Christmas morning at Grandma's

I am lucky that I had an uncle who liked photography. He made a set of home movies for my first Christmas that even had slides that named people. It is wonderful to look back at these and see how much our family changed over the years. He made a few others as well which we also have. These are after my baby sister was born.

Christmas morning was always spent at Grandma Gerrard's. We could go to my other grandmother on Christmas Eve, but Dad's mom required our presence. We would have wonderful coffee cake, but, as I remember, the only thing to drink was coffee or cream. And the cream wasn't even cold. But the coffee cake was wonderful because Grandma loved to bake.

We would all dress up in Christmas finery. I remember some of my cousins in matching outfits. We would each get one gift from a gift exchange with someone else in our generation. We sang lots of songs together with my aunt at the piano. When we got older, most of us would perform something, usually acting out a Christmas song or story.

We had a short time at home opening our gifts before we had to get all dressed up and head over to Grandma's house. We spent the rest of the morning with the family at her house. I loved that tradition even if I sometimes resented having to leave my new things at home to go. 

Once Grandma died, we had one more Christmas together at her house. I remember decorating the tree with my cousins who were older and far more mature (they were already teenagers and I wasn't yet). I felt so grown up to be able to help.

The years passed and Christmas morning moved to our own house with visitors stopping by throughout the day. More years passed, and Christmas morning was either drives down to Rhode Island to Nana's house, or a flight to California to Grandma's house. It was wonderful to have the extended family again for the holiday.

When I married again, I got to be one of the Grandma's for Christmas. Then my daughter provided additional grandchildren. One Christmas, they all slept on my living room floor. That was so fun. Since becoming Grandma, Christmas has usually been on the road visiting extended family. This past Christmas, we video-conferenced with two other locations while visiting all of the great-grandchildren at their Grandma's house.

I am grateful for the Grandma's that provide the memories for special occasions, like Christmas morning at Grandma's. I am grateful for all my cousins, aunts, and uncles who were there in my childhood to help make those wonderful memories.