Celebrating a Constantin Christmas

On Dec. 24, Santa Claus may be coming to town, but the Constantin family celebrates Christmas in our own way. Every year we get together on Christmas Eve, Wigilia in our Polish tradition, to celebrate our long list of family traditions: Sharing of the host ( oplatek); Lighting of the candles on Grandma’s special Christmas tree; Prayer before supper; A toast with Black Tower wine, in celebration and in thanksgiving;

Decorating the beet soup with a design using sour cream;

Boiling over of the Christmas peas;

Enjoying our meal of fish, potato balls, perogi and pancakes ( nalesniki); Family gift exchange and games; Family portrait with props (like in 2004, when we all wore a different hockey sweater);

Carolling of Polish, English and French hymns;

Enjoying the homemade Christmas cookies — and keeping some for Boxing Day breakfast;

Taking down the table and washing all the dishes, especially all those pots and pans;

Then saying goodnight and Merry Christmas with warm hugs and embra- ces, knowing that we have shared another memorable evening, with traditions that will carry on from generation to generation, as we welcomed a fourth-generation Constantin to our Christmas Eve celebration in 2011 — as well as a new language: Portuguese.

So this year we wish you all:

COURTESY OF JOYCE CONSTANTIN A Constantin family photo shows the lighting of Grandma’s special tree at Christmas.