Having advanced to the present age of threescore and seventeen years, and living alone in my ancestral home, I often in memory return to my childhood days. One of those remembrances is of Christmas, with Mom and Daddy (Dorothy and Hunt Meadows, Jr.), brothers (Hunt III, Richard, and Frank) and sisters (Rose Marie and Sarah). For me, as with all children, Christmas was such a special time of year, and it seemed as if it would never arrive!
Around the first of December the Christmas spirit seemed to be in the air, especially at our little Fairview Presbyterian Church. A few weeks before Christmas some of the ladies of the church got together a Christmas play, to be presented to the congregation and guests a few nights before Christmas Day, the young adults and children of the church being the participants, or “actors.” We would practice two or three times for it, before the actual play. The men of the chuirch cut and erected a big cedar tree in the church. It was decorated by the ladies, with the children helping.
Days later, on that special night, the church would be filled with members and guests, and the play would begin. After the performance, Santa Claus would make his entrance shouting “Merry Christmas! — Merry Christmas to all!!” and proceed to the big Christmas tree, where he handed out gifts to all the children, along with bags of candy apple, orange, gum, and raisins to everyone, children and adults. How excited we children were to see Santa, and hear him promise the gifts we asked for on Christmas morning! Of course, he asked us if we had all been good boys and girls. — True or not, we all, of course, said yes! About that time Santa said he had to go, and down the aisle he went shouting “Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!!” We children looked on in awe as he departed.
Back in our home the Christmas tree was not erected until about one week before Christmas Day. What joy we children had in taking an ax and going across fields and through woods looking for that perfectly shaped cedar tree for Christmas, cutting it down, and carrying it home. We decorated it with some store-bought decorations, but mostly with homemade things we had constructed from paper, popcorn, sweetgum tree balls, etc.
To us it was so pretty! We could hardly wait till Christmas, only a few days away, but it seemed as if that special day would never arrive! (As I look at it now, children of today are not as excited about Christmas as we were so many years ago, sadly.)
Mama for days had been preparing cakes; boiling in a copper “ham cooker” a large one-year-old country ham brought up to her from the smokehouse; baking a big turkey; and preparing so many other things for the Christmas dinner. Christmas Eve day would finally arrive, and before bedtime that special night Mama would always read us a Christmas story or two, and talk about the True Meaning of Christmas. Then, it was time to go to bed for us children. We were so excited we took a long time going to sleep, talking quietly to each other about what hopefully Santa would leave for us. Christmas morning was one time we all were awake about 4 or 5 a.m., wondering if Santa had come. We could hear Daddy stirring about in the living room, and someone would ask if Santa had come, and if we could come in.
I can hear his voice now, after all these many years gone by, saying, “Yes, come on, he's come and gone.” As we rushed in, Daddy would be standing in front of a roaring fire in the old fireplace, with toys and gifts for each scattered about the room! There were tricycles, baseball bats, gloves, clothes, wrapped gifts — and for me a Daisy BB rifle!! About then Mama would come in with our sister Rose (in this remembered scenario, little sister Sarah had not arrived yet), who, being older than us boys, received clothes, books, and whatever else girls got at Christmas time. We were all so excited and happy!
In an hour or so Mama had prepared a big country breakfast for all of us. We children were too excited to eat, but we did so, and couldn't wait to go outside and play with our new toys.
About mid-morning on that special day, relatives, grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, would arrive bringing more presents for all; they had been invited to partake in the Christmas dinner.
Daddy had already made his famous eggnog in a big handed-down family crystal punch bowl with cups — using his “special ingredients” in it for the adults to enjoy. We children could not understand why he would not let us have some, as it looked so delicious with nutmeg sprinkled and floating on top of it. For some reason the men in the family seemed to really enjoy it, going back often for another cupful or two!
After the big Christmas dinner was eaten, and the ladies along with Mama had cleared the tables, washed the dishes and silverware, they all sat in the living room by the big open fireplace, talking and laughing, I suppose of good times gone by, while we children with our cousins were outside playing. We were, adults and children alike, so happy, on that special day we call Christmas!!
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