Getting Ready To Go

The big trip to southern Cal started first with getting all the Black Walnuts picked from the ground under the black walnut trees that graced the south side of the property by the road in the olden days. Dad had several sacks that we used to haul the nuts to the feed store. I never liked the job much but we had it to do before we could head south for Christmas. We worked hard and our hands got stained.

Then we kids were ready to go. But Dad wasn’t. There were always a few ‘little things’ that he needed to do before we could leave. It seemed that we always got to my Grandma’s house around 11:50 on Christmas Eve. She’d greet us at the door of the back porch door. We were glad to be there. They lived in Glendora. We loved being at Grandma Weigold’s house. We loved being with her and seeing our cousins. It was quite lovely. Now Grandma’s house was rather small but we didn’t think of it as ‘too small’. We had our sleeping bags and Paul got the bed on the front porch.

Eating The Delicious Meal

The Christmas meal was fantastic. She did the whole nine yards. There were six kids in my cousins’ family and five in ours so I suppose she did some thinking ahead. There was a turkey, potatoes and gravy (instant potatoes…which I loved), cranberry sauce, two types of pickles, a Waldorf salad (Aunt Louise made it…and it was tops), dressing, biscuits, olives, green beans cooked with bacon, and pies…pumpkin, and cherry and whatnot…always with vanilla ice cream and. of course, Grandma’s sugar cookies cut in circles with red hots in the center. They were miracuously soft. I have the recipe but I can never get them as soft.

We’d open up the gifts and that was special. I remember getting a toy doctor kit, dolls, and play dishes, and clothes even bathrobes. My brother got gifts like western pistols and Etch-a-Sketch. The adults played cards, and we kids just had a lot of fun. Sometimes we’d sing and Grandma or Aunt Louise played the piano. Grandma had a lot of sheet music so Marilyn played the piano quite a bit during our week down there. In the backyard there was a lemon tree and an avocado tree, a clothesline and a couple of other types of trees. We skated on the sidewalks as often as we could. Every Christmas we had a lovely time at Grandma and Grandad’s house.

I haven’t mentioned the other side of the family mainly because they moved up north when I was in sixth grade. We had a wonderful time with them as well. We usually spent a belated Christmas with them and our Cripe cousins. Granda Brumbaugh went to a lot of work as well. I remember she always made a side dish of canned tomato with torn homemade bread that was served in small bowls in the upper left setting in our places. Both grandmothers used their best china and cutlery and napkins for their Christmas meals. They’d make the whole meal a lavish affair. Of course we girls helped wash the dishes when the meal was all finished. We had a system for that too.

My Cousins and Whatnot

As I was writing this blog post I was thinking about my cousins on both sides. We were older than the Staudenraus (Weigold) cousins and similar in age to the Cripe (Brumbaugh) cousins. Our cousins on both sides, including Uncle Walt’s kids, for the most part are still in contact with the family but we don’t talk too often. But this summer my siblings and I took a California trip. Just my two sisters, my brother and me. It was unique. (Around a month ago I wrote about it.) I am glad that the institution of marriage and family means a lot to me and the other family circles. Now that we are older it seems as if we appreciate what binds us more than what divides us.

I think I am blessed…to have my family. Family is a wonderful thing. Some families don’t have the close bond which I enjoy, and I feel for you. But you can make your own substitute family. It’s caring about others that matters. You can offer what you have to your friends, whether they are close or not. People need to know we care. We need to know they care as well. Reach out to someone. Give some food to someone. Help someone out. Be a good friend. Read the bible story of the first Christmas. Share the love. Be kind. Thank God for the food. Thank Him for sending His Son to our earth for us and the ones before us.