Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Happy New Years!
Happy New Year's Everybody! We made it through all the Christmas festivities just great. My brother John & girlfriend Kimberly flew in from Charlotte, NC, and boy howdy! were their arms ever tired. Seriously though, we had a very nice visit. We picked them up from the airport in Memphis on Dec. 23rd and drove them back over on Dec. 26th. They got to experience a "Scearce Christmas" firsthand. John has been around for Christmas with us before, but it was Kimberly's first time here. It was a total first for all of us to celebrate Christmas with Miss Odessa not here. The celebration was nice, and she would have been proud of our efforts.
One final touch to the festive decorations came about as sort of a surprise. Last year, my daughter-in-law Beth and I had discussed with Miss Odessa the possibility of decorating the swimming pool with floating candles this next year. Beth remembered our conversation and found some silver floating decorator balls and quite a few floating candles. We lit them up just as our banquet was beginning. They dispersed quite nicely, so everyone had a beautiful view of the candles peacefully floating on top of the water. It was a nice touch, and topped off the evening wonderfully.
The biggest change though in the whole evening was that Marvin and I were now the hosts who sat at the head of the table, and all of these friends and relatives were our guests. We made it through the transition fine, but not without shedding a few tears regarding past memories. These celebrations have been videotaped for years, and as we dined, there was a television in the background playing a tape from the 1983 celebration. Everyone had changed, but still remained a little of the same.
We got to enjoy the company of our little granddaughter, Hannah Daisy, now seven months old. She was the center of attention (and not spoiled a bit!). She smiled and posed for her photos like a champ. We also enjoyed having Beth and Jason there too, of course. Garrett was at his dad's on Christmas Eve, but we got to open gifts with him a couple of days later.
We start out our banquet with a little friendly ice-breaker game. Everyone writes their name on this card and sticks it in a fishbowl. Marvin draws the first name. That person sits down and draws the name of another person who sits down until there is only one person left standing. That person wins a door prize. This year, my brother John won the door prize, a $25 gift card from Wal-Mart. Dinner was delicious. Marvin and I provided turkey, roast beef, ham, rolls, and boiled custard (Miss Odessa's recipe), and everyone else brought more dessert and vegetables to complement the meats. Marvin's sister Jeannie always does a great job with her deviled eggs, mashed potatoes, and coconut cake and his brother Ronnie is a whiz at baked beans and corn. Jeannie also used her mom's recipe for Coca-Cola salad, which is about the same consistency of cranberry sauce, but I think that it tastes better than cranberry sauce. Aunt Barbara made her eggplant casserole and Uncle Romaine brought over his famous chocolate pies. Nephew Bubba and his wife Barbara brought green bean casserole, and there was more food brought by even more people who attended, total number around thirty.
After dinner, we have a gift exchange. Everyone brings either a man's gift or a woman's gift (limit $10). We play bingo. When you win, you go pick out a gift from your corresponding side of the table. Don't clear your card though, because whoever covers up all of their numbers wins another door prize, this year that was also a $25 gift card from Wal-Mart. I was one of the first people to win. I selected a three-piece skillet set. That was because I was thinking about all of the eggs that I would have to fry the next morning when everyone came back over for breakfast.
This Christmas was very special to all of us. We survived by remembering the past, and making our own memories to look back on in the future.
One final touch to the festive decorations came about as sort of a surprise. Last year, my daughter-in-law Beth and I had discussed with Miss Odessa the possibility of decorating the swimming pool with floating candles this next year. Beth remembered our conversation and found some silver floating decorator balls and quite a few floating candles. We lit them up just as our banquet was beginning. They dispersed quite nicely, so everyone had a beautiful view of the candles peacefully floating on top of the water. It was a nice touch, and topped off the evening wonderfully.
The biggest change though in the whole evening was that Marvin and I were now the hosts who sat at the head of the table, and all of these friends and relatives were our guests. We made it through the transition fine, but not without shedding a few tears regarding past memories. These celebrations have been videotaped for years, and as we dined, there was a television in the background playing a tape from the 1983 celebration. Everyone had changed, but still remained a little of the same.
We got to enjoy the company of our little granddaughter, Hannah Daisy, now seven months old. She was the center of attention (and not spoiled a bit!). She smiled and posed for her photos like a champ. We also enjoyed having Beth and Jason there too, of course. Garrett was at his dad's on Christmas Eve, but we got to open gifts with him a couple of days later.
We start out our banquet with a little friendly ice-breaker game. Everyone writes their name on this card and sticks it in a fishbowl. Marvin draws the first name. That person sits down and draws the name of another person who sits down until there is only one person left standing. That person wins a door prize. This year, my brother John won the door prize, a $25 gift card from Wal-Mart. Dinner was delicious. Marvin and I provided turkey, roast beef, ham, rolls, and boiled custard (Miss Odessa's recipe), and everyone else brought more dessert and vegetables to complement the meats. Marvin's sister Jeannie always does a great job with her deviled eggs, mashed potatoes, and coconut cake and his brother Ronnie is a whiz at baked beans and corn. Jeannie also used her mom's recipe for Coca-Cola salad, which is about the same consistency of cranberry sauce, but I think that it tastes better than cranberry sauce. Aunt Barbara made her eggplant casserole and Uncle Romaine brought over his famous chocolate pies. Nephew Bubba and his wife Barbara brought green bean casserole, and there was more food brought by even more people who attended, total number around thirty.
After dinner, we have a gift exchange. Everyone brings either a man's gift or a woman's gift (limit $10). We play bingo. When you win, you go pick out a gift from your corresponding side of the table. Don't clear your card though, because whoever covers up all of their numbers wins another door prize, this year that was also a $25 gift card from Wal-Mart. I was one of the first people to win. I selected a three-piece skillet set. That was because I was thinking about all of the eggs that I would have to fry the next morning when everyone came back over for breakfast.
This Christmas was very special to all of us. We survived by remembering the past, and making our own memories to look back on in the future.
