2014: A Memorable Christmas

Christmas 2014: Before the Feast

One of our Christmas Eve dinner guests--my favorite brother-in-law, it was--challenged us all to tell about the most memorable Christmas celebrations that we each had experienced over the years. This was a lovely exercise, as I learned something about each of the other guests, none of whom, except for my husband, I had spent many Christmases with in recent history. It also forced me to think quickly through the years to pick out a year that was particularly noteworthy.

For purposes of the discussion, I spoke about Christmas 1967, when I was studying in England and my then-fiancee flew from the US to London to meet me, and we flew on together to Copenhagen. There I met my to-be mother-in-law and father-in-law for the first time. It was one of only two times that I ever saw my father-in-law, or father-in-love, as he pronounced the term. I remember him with tenderness as a gentle and humorous and oh-so-accepting man. Around the dinner table this year we shared some small incidents about the days we spent in Copenhagen on that first trip. What I didn't talk about much was that in addition to providing an introduction to my in-laws and my adopted country, that Christmas was the first that I ever spent away from my birth family, and I was homesick. Unfortunately it became the norm for me to be separated from my sisters and my parents on holidays throughout decades of my married life, as was also the case for my husband and his first family.

If we perform the same exercise next year--and even if we don't, I probably will remember--my most memorable Christmas will be Christmas 2014. This year for the first time I was able to host my family for a Christmas Eve celebration. All my sisters were here for their first (and last) Christmas in this apartment, but hopefully not the last one in our home. I spent days planning the dinner and the decorations (modest), and I enjoyed it all. After a welcome drink of warm gløgg (mulled red wine) we started with smoked salmon with fresh pea purée and lemon sauce. The main course was pork and turkey tenderloin with little roasted potatoes and a fabulous whiskey sauce; and we had Graeter's (a Cincinnati tradition) peppermint stick and eggnog ice cream for dessert, with Danish klejner cookies that Johannes and I made together, a tradition that we follow almost every year. Later we shared nonpareils from a blue candy dish that brought memories to us all from our paternal grandparents, and cashews from an equally memorable gold dish handed down from our own parents. We four sisters and two brothers-in-love exchanged modest and thoughtful gifts among us all, but my main gift to them and to myself was this special time together.