Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is a time of family gathering around.  I have a confession to make.  I many times was cloistered in a room with a sewing machine finishing my gifts.  I have been know to be up until 4 am.  Yes, the Hero was rolling his eyes.  A fellow blogger said about shoppers who were agitated in long lines, 'Dec 25 comes the same time every year.'  LOL, yep, my planning skills were just not the best in the world.
I took a poll among some of my children, and they told me that our Christmas Eve was a series of attempts at different traditions.  We read the Nativity story from St. Luke in the Bible. We made cookies and milk for Santa.  As they grew older, the older children got to play Santa for the younger ones.   They liked that as it gave them distinction. 

My personal most memorable Christmas Eve was in my third year of school.  My Uncle Ed and his family came to have Christmas with my family since my grandmother was living with us. 
As it began to be late, the adults were playing cards and drinking eggnog.  My cousin Dale and I were playing with some toys (yes, that means, I don't remember what we were doing) .  Uncle Ed and my older cousin Darryl, who was home for the holidays from the service, began to fuss at my younger cousin and I to go to bed or Santa wouldn't be able to come.  We went off to our rooms to get ready for bed.  All of a sudden,  we heard bells and the slamming of the front door.  Of course, that meant the two of us had to come out to see what was going on.  To our surprise there was a huge stuffed panda bear and a set of cowboy guns sitting in front of the tree.  The panda was mine the guns were Dale's.  They told us that Santa had been in a hurry because we had stayed up so late, so he dropped them off at the front door on his way to the next town.  Yes, we believed him and were delighted with the presents.  The next day my cousin and I played Cowboys and Indians.  Wow. Innocent times in a different world.
(Many years later Darryl confessed to being Santa that year.)

Sharing a Slice of Life #18: Random Picture Day

Our challenge was to take a picture at random from our picture box and blog about it.  Go over to Sharing a Slice of Life to join our fun.  I just read SouthernArkies post about her picture of a sewing room.  What a memory.
If you have visited before you know, I blog about my Hero, my husband every Sunday.  As it happens the Hero is in this picture. 

The picture was taken in my Uncle Ed's kitchen on his farm in Pawnee, Oklahoma about 1973.  The jacket the Hero is wearing was one that I had sewn for him.  He loved it and wore it out.  Also pictured is my dad sitting at the table, and my Uncle Ed standing and rubbing his eye. 
It is a standard kitchen, but it represents what I had always hoped for but never achieved in my own home.  Everyone migrated to the kitchen to visit.  I never had a kitchen to sit in.
When I was growing up, the living room was for formal guests, only family or close friends were invited beyond.  The kitchen was the place you sat down at the table and had a cup of something, and visited.  Old times were talked about.  Card games were played here.  Needs and challenges were discussed. Sometimes tears were shed.   It represents closeness, family, and love. 
The Kitchen, a place where the body and soul were seen and fed.