Happy families A time for young and old to get together
Marion recalls Christmases past, and the days when no one seemed to need a fridge
MY Dear Friends – how was your Christmas? Mine was spent alone but oddly enough I didn’t really feel lonely. I think I was buoyed up by messages and phone calls, and spent the day reminiscing about happier times.
Nowadays I am honest enough to admit I couldn’t cope with presenting a perfectly cooked dinner for several, but I did so enjoy those days.
My first husband, George, used to sit at the head of the table beaming proudly as if he had actually had anything to do with it!
My Mum, who had been in care for several years, spent her last Christmas Day with us in 1987 and my eldest Grandson was entranced with this lady in her pram – her wheelchair of course – and she in turn was entranced with him.
I do so understand that now that I too have a great grandson, Finley. He is, of course, gorgeous and I do so long to cuddle him again!
My second husband, Derek, and I after we moved to our retirement flat, spent Christmas Days on our own but Boxing Day was when my four grandsons and their ladies descended upon us. We absolutely loved it; the young ones were such fun but their exuberance wore us out so much that by the time they went home we were exhausted!
My worst-ever Christmas was 1992. My dear husband George passed away very suddenly on December 13, leaving us all in a state of shock and grief. Not just me and my children but all my relatives, since in a close family when one hurts all hurt.
My grandsons did not really understand so Christmas day took place anyway for their sakes but it was hard.
I am a Christian so obviously for me there is a spiritual side as I pray and celebrate the birth of the holy Babe and my church life has always played a big part in Christmas celebrations. I loved midnight mass more than any other Christmas service, even Easter.
Something else that has changed this year. In the ‘olden’ days as one of my grandsons used to refer to my younger years, apart from the frantic shopping on Christmas Eve, our shops used to be closed from Christmas Eve to the day after Boxing Day (apart from the pubs and off licences naturally!) …
And do you know, no-one starved, even though fridges were unknown and all we had was a cold
slab in the larder.
Mind you, we also had a cold house since we only had a fire in the front room so there was not much danger of food ‘going off’ apart from the fact we didn’t have that much of it.
Even in the summer the cold slab did the job, although if it was really hot sometimes the milk would go off and the Sunday joint which had to last three days would be subjected to the “sniff test”.
It was not until 1961 that George and I managed to buy a fridge. We were very proud but should have kept it quiet, since I had so many requests to just ‘pop’ something or other in the fridge I had to put my foot down.
One of my family (no, not me honestly!) whilst draining excess fat from the turkey let the tin tilt so much the turkey shot out of the pan and onto the floor.
What did you do, I asked? Well, she said, with her son’s help she picked it up very gingerly, because it was so hot, rinsed it and put it back in the oven for a while. Everybody ate well so it just proved what my Gran used to say, everybody eats a peck of dirt before they die .
God bless, lots of love, stay safe,
Marion Marion will be back with more memories in a fortnight’s time. She is happy to receive emails at webbm373@gmail.com.