Canutito learns to appreciate Mis Crismes

Esa noche, ya era tan close to Christmas y Canutito couldn’t fall asleep. He was thinking of todas las cosas suaves que el Santa Claus was going to bring him. He had made una lista bien grande de todas las cosas that he would love to have y, preferably all on Christmas morning. He had already worn out las puntas de dos lápices just writing down his Christmas list. En su lista there were toys upon toys y la mayoría de ellos were cosas that Canutito had only seen en los catálogos del Montgomery Wards y del Spiegel. He put his Christmas list debajo de su almohada, thinking que maybe el Santo Clós might find it there como si fuera similar a la Good Fairy. El Grampo Caralampio se levantó esa noche to go to the bathroom y la halló allí, on the pillow right under his head. He looked across the bed y vio al Canutito roncando en la otra cama. El Grampo Caralampio didn’t know cómo decirle al niño that there wasn’t dinero para comprar todo lo que he had put on his list. It had been un año muy difícil.

Late that night, Canutito woke up en la media noche. Something lo había despertado de su sueño. It turned out to be Grama Cuca, who was praying el Rosario del Santo Niño. She always prayed la Novena del Santo Niño por nueve noches antes de Crismes. Canutito liked to listen to her rezarla because había una parte where las personas got to pray para lo que más quisieran. Canutito had learned en el libro del Dick and Jane, that American children comían naranjas en la mañana. He had always wanted de comer naranjas and he always offered esa con todos los toys that he wanted to play with.

Esa noche mientras que el Canutito was lying allí en la cama, just wishing, el Grampo heard him rezándole al Santo Nino que le diera cool things. He whispered to him, “Yo también used to pray cuando era joven. I would pray to get a bag de Mis Crismes.”

“¿Qué eran ‘Mis Crismes, grampo?” Canutito whispered back to him.

“Eran un bag full of hard, ribbon candy along con Spanish peanuts in the shell. Y si habíamos sido especially good ese año, we might even find an apple o una naranja among them. No había any money in those days so we would rely en la generosidad de los vecinos to help us. We would get up real early en la madrugada de Christmas, y nos poníamos socks en las manos, porque no teníamos gloves to ward off el frío, y mi mamá would give us some empty flour sacks and we would trudge forth en la nieve, e íbamos from house to house, gritando ¡‘Mis Crismes!’” Canutito just looked at grampo con mucha atención as he continued diciendo: “En los días de mis abuelitos, los niños también would walk de casa en casa pero it was done en la noche de January Sixth. En esos días, Christmas was celebrated en el ‘Día de los Reyes’. It was also known como ‘Twelfth Night.’”

“Was that cuando los neighbors would give them sus es, grampo?” Canutito asked him.

“Sugar was very scarce en esos días so no habían dulces. The moms would make bollitos, which were like thick part bread and a few sprinkles.”

“The kids really to work para agarrar su Crismes en esos días, right?” he asked.

“It must have been hasta más difícil in the 1920s,” grampo smiled. En esos días, kids got nothing más que ‘puches,’ which were like dried bread crumbs soaked in milk. No, no teníamos mucho but we were grateful por los poco que teníamos,” he said, rolling over.

Canutito nada más lo miraba as he went back to snoring. He snuggled up to grampo y lo abrazó. Ese año no había much candy or toys pero era the best Christmas ever…