Christmases Past

Fantastic day yesterday with my first Christmas brunch of the season with family and friends. A little on the small side for the first run but that was what made it so perfect. Danish æbleskiver (ball pancakes), cantaloupe wrapped with prosciutto ham and mimosa drinks were low key and not so filling. Today we rest for the next big event Christmas Eve! Again we are doing it on the low key side with just 5 of us this year. The ducks are out thawing away and Mom and I are going to make an orange mousse for the dessert instead of our usual Danish rice pudding (we will have that Christmas Day this year).

So things are moving along nicely this season and I am hoping that my illness stays at bay. Last year was so nerve-wracking for everyone that nothing seemed to go very well.

As mentioned earlier I saw a psychologist on the Marilyn Denis show who advised that if there was a concern (death, marriage, illness, divorce, etc) happening in the family it is okay to acknowledge it but then one should continue to celebrate the holiday because “ ’tis the season” after all. Don’t ruin it for everyone is the motto, essentially.

If children are involved remember that this is the high point of their year and family should ensure that they always have the best memories at this time of year.

I remember one memorable Christmas where Dad took a fit because the darn tree kept falling over and he threw the tree out the door like a javelin. We kids started bawling our heads off because now we were “going to have a sad Christmas”. That naturally got Dad upset so out he trotted to bring the tree back in and somehow he managed to get the tree to stay up. I do recall that we had an awful lot of drama with trees over the years because the early tree stands were so poorly made and of course we always had a giant, live Christmas tree. When my Faster Jonna was here we talked about the trees and she laughing recalled that the drama was continuing from back home in Denmark. Apparently one Christmas the tree sat in the coal bucket! I can picture it well.

While there can be drama make sure it is funny in the end!