Midlife Creative

When I was a child, Christmas did not involve gifts or Santa Claus. We didn’t even have a tree. We hung ornaments from the curtains. At the time, I didn’t think much of it except for when The nice cashier trying to make conversation at the store asked “What did Santa bring you this year?” While my classmates were getting Nintendos and giant LEGO sets, my siblings and I got tootsie roll banks and socks. Before you start feeling sorry for me, I will assure you that Christmas was THE best day of my year.

My most vivid memory was traveling to small town Appleton, MN. My Dad comes from a family of 11 children and Christmas was the one time that they all got together.

Before any gifts were opened, everyone took turns performing a talent.
The talents were anything from playing Silent Night by blowing in pop bottles to flexibility tricks using a broom stick. I remember one of my uncles pretending to be an astronaut, lying upside down on a folding chair, making sound effects of a space ship.

There was always a lot of singing, guitar playing , and if we were lucky…Uncle Glen brought the banjo. Everyone always made a big deal of Grandma Evelyn’s harmonica solos. It was like someone famous entered the room when Grandma pulled out her harmonica.

My contribution to Christmas other than my attempt to play the violin was introducing a game called “Mrs Mumble”. The one rule was you couldn’t show your teeth and you couldn’t laugh or you were out of the game. The first person in the circle would say, “Have you seen Mrs. Mumble?” and then the person next to them would say “I don’t know? Let me ask my neighbor”. The game just got better and better as the question worked it’s way around the circle and the aunts and uncles tried to out do each other in comedic improve.

After all the talents were shared, it was time for gifts. With so many siblings, the gift exchange seemed to take a very long time. When I turned 13, I was finally old enough to be entered in the name drawing. I remember feeling really grown up and proud to be in the circle of adults. My gift that first year was a set of hand painted ceramic turtles from my aunt Mona. I still have them almost 30 years later. I know I must have received Christmas gifts as a child, but this is the only one I really remember.

One thing I do remember well was the food. We ate rosettes, lefse, tea ring, lasagne, shrimp, pickled herring, olives, and deviled eggs. The adults enjoyed playing scrabble and putting together puzzles.

The kids loved hide and seek in all the upstairs bedrooms of “the big house” which now that I think about it, wasn’t very big at all. We fit a lot of people into that big-little house in Appleton, MN. It’s been many years now since we have had Christmas there, but the memories play in my mind like a movie. Thanks to my uncle Art, there is lots of video footage of the talent shows, singing, and dancing that I go back and watch when I’m feeling nostalgic.

Without trying, my parents have re-created a similar atmosphere of excitement for their own children. My 6 siblings and I gather with our families at my sister Gina’s house on Christmas. The kids usually treat the adults to a performance or costume parade . There are lots of board games, puzzles, a photo scavenger hunt, and a similar spread of food. My kids are soaking up every moment of memory making, and so am I.