A Christmas Story (Originally Posted Last Year)
Dec 25, 2019 17:37:22 GMT -5
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Post by GordonG on Dec 25, 2019 17:37:22 GMT -5
I decided to repost this story since we have many new members. Since Chanukah and Christmas fall out together this year, I am thinking that the story is especially meaningful.
My story starts around 30 years ago when wife and I had become very close friends of a Catholic family. I had been introduced to Christmas Tree decorating in the early 1970s when I showed up at a very good friend's Christmas tree decorating party. I happen to be the first one to show up and she told me to start with the lights. I said you have to be kidding. What do I know about decorating a Christmas Tree. She said you will figure it out. Fortunately some other guests showed up and the Christmas Tree ended up looking quite beautiful. Needless to say I had a great time decorating the tree.
I related my Christmas Tree story to our friends about how a Jewish kid learned about decorating a Christmas tree. Promptly I was asked to help with the lights. That went on for several years and evolved into my wife and I helping with decorating the entire tree. One year my wife and I showed up to help decorate the tree and the next thing we know is that our friends took off to finish their Christmas shopping. Thanks to my wife we ended up doing a very good job. We then proceeded to decorate our friends Christmas tree for 17 years. They got to do their Christmas shopping while we spent an average of 4 hours decorating their tree. In return we got to have a wonderful dinner prepared by Ilona who was a gourmet cook.
By the time they told us they wanted to take back the decorating of their tree, it had become a tradition to join them for dinner during the holiday season. Sometimes it was on Christmas but most of the time it was a week before Christmas. If the dinner occurred during Chanukah, we would bring our Menorah to their house and light the candles there. There was more than one occasion in which Christmas and Chanukah overlapped. So there we were jointly celebrating the two holidays. It did not get better than that.
Sadly, Ilona died in the fall of 2018. Later that year, I received a call from Ilona's husband Tony inviting us over for dinner on Christmas day. My wife and I were ecstatic. In addition to her husband their daughter (our goddaughter) was there with her husband and their 7 month old baby. I know that Ilona was watching over us and was very happy that a tradition that had been going on for over 30 years was maintained.
Postscripts
The year is 2011. Our friends invited us to spend Christmas with them at their home in the San Bernardino mountains. That Christmas eve became a most memorable day for me. My goddaughter and I went skiing. I had not been skiing for over a decade. We had a great time and to my surprise I regained most of my skiing ability by the end of the day. That evening we watched our friends open their presents. That was a highlight of my life. I felt an incredible amount of happiness watching and feeling their joy. Late that night after everyone else had gone to bed, I stayed in the living room by the fireplace falling asleep listening to Christmas music.
This year the tradition came to an end. Without Ilona it is just not the same. On a happy note, for the third year we were invited to a Christmas Eve party of another good friend. We thoroughly enjoyed the great home cooked Mexican food and enjoyed playing texas hold'em poker. I feel very blessed to be able to continue to enjoy both holidays.
My story starts around 30 years ago when wife and I had become very close friends of a Catholic family. I had been introduced to Christmas Tree decorating in the early 1970s when I showed up at a very good friend's Christmas tree decorating party. I happen to be the first one to show up and she told me to start with the lights. I said you have to be kidding. What do I know about decorating a Christmas Tree. She said you will figure it out. Fortunately some other guests showed up and the Christmas Tree ended up looking quite beautiful. Needless to say I had a great time decorating the tree.
I related my Christmas Tree story to our friends about how a Jewish kid learned about decorating a Christmas tree. Promptly I was asked to help with the lights. That went on for several years and evolved into my wife and I helping with decorating the entire tree. One year my wife and I showed up to help decorate the tree and the next thing we know is that our friends took off to finish their Christmas shopping. Thanks to my wife we ended up doing a very good job. We then proceeded to decorate our friends Christmas tree for 17 years. They got to do their Christmas shopping while we spent an average of 4 hours decorating their tree. In return we got to have a wonderful dinner prepared by Ilona who was a gourmet cook.
By the time they told us they wanted to take back the decorating of their tree, it had become a tradition to join them for dinner during the holiday season. Sometimes it was on Christmas but most of the time it was a week before Christmas. If the dinner occurred during Chanukah, we would bring our Menorah to their house and light the candles there. There was more than one occasion in which Christmas and Chanukah overlapped. So there we were jointly celebrating the two holidays. It did not get better than that.
Sadly, Ilona died in the fall of 2018. Later that year, I received a call from Ilona's husband Tony inviting us over for dinner on Christmas day. My wife and I were ecstatic. In addition to her husband their daughter (our goddaughter) was there with her husband and their 7 month old baby. I know that Ilona was watching over us and was very happy that a tradition that had been going on for over 30 years was maintained.
Postscripts
The year is 2011. Our friends invited us to spend Christmas with them at their home in the San Bernardino mountains. That Christmas eve became a most memorable day for me. My goddaughter and I went skiing. I had not been skiing for over a decade. We had a great time and to my surprise I regained most of my skiing ability by the end of the day. That evening we watched our friends open their presents. That was a highlight of my life. I felt an incredible amount of happiness watching and feeling their joy. Late that night after everyone else had gone to bed, I stayed in the living room by the fireplace falling asleep listening to Christmas music.
This year the tradition came to an end. Without Ilona it is just not the same. On a happy note, for the third year we were invited to a Christmas Eve party of another good friend. We thoroughly enjoyed the great home cooked Mexican food and enjoyed playing texas hold'em poker. I feel very blessed to be able to continue to enjoy both holidays.