Stacey's Blog

Twas the morning before Christmas and all through the house

Not a child was stirring…not even the spouse.

When then all of the sudden, a buzz I did  hear

I jumped up from the bed… my phone alarm must be near

But alas I was wrong, “what IS that he said?”

It’s not MY alarm going off near my head….

I searched and I pondered and I heard it again…

A cell phone above us…going off in our heads…

“Where is thou going,” asked the sleepy head spouse

As I crawled out of bed…trying to be quiet as a mouse…

“To find that damn buzzing that is going off above our heads…”

You said it was an alarm….so I jumped out of bed….

I put on my glasses and socks on my feet…

I was determined to find the reason I was not able to sleep

Cody was snuggled atop of the stairs….

Looking at me like I was crazy instead of snuggled in my lair

I got up to the living room…as cold as it was

And started the search for that damn cell phone buzz

You see this was a morning

That I hoped to sleep in

Because the radio did not need me…since…well…I can’t remember when.

So I lifted the blankets and searched the brown couch

But I could not find the buzzing…I banged my big toe…Ouch!

Then like the new sun and a new fairy tale

I heard the damn buzzing…coming from the massage table…

There on the sheet…as black as can be…

Was a Samsung cell phone….NOT belonging to me.

The alarm had been set for Seven O Five….

But this had to be wrong and I’ll tell you why

My stepdaughters are beautiful and smart don’t you see

But for one of them to get up early…it really shocked me

Just like their daddy who was still snug in our bed…

His three lovely daughters…will not lift their head

The sun could be high and please let me translate…

Don’t you see that the Lyster’s all like to sleep late?

So I turned off the alarm on the Samsung you see…

So the Lyster’s in the house…could sleep…until three…

Now this is my story on this Christmas Eve night…

And because the Ma they call Sma…could not go back to sleep

…she decided to write.

I came home from a chilly afternoon of last minute holiday shopping, glad to be in our nice, quiet home away from the crowds. After stumbling up the stairs with an armful of packages I flipped on the heater switch because the chill of the forest was also seeping into the house.

It didn’t take me long to start the fire because I wanted to be able to walk around the living room without my jacket and scarf keeping me warm. As the wood-burning stove began to warm up the house, I started plugging in the holiday lights we had strung around the living room. I love a twinkling living room. There are some lights glowing on the stairwell, some twisted around candles and photographs, a string of white lights on the bookcase and of course, the tree.

When I plugged in the lights we had strung around the tree, the wave of nostalgia that swept through me caught me totally off guard. In spite of the crazy story of my holiday upbringing which included any holiday that was printed on the calendar at hand, we always went to my dad’s side of the family for the Christmas holiday. The presents that would be lined up and around the fireplace were often overwhelming. There were usually no less than fifteen or so of us at my grandparent’s house celebrating that day and with everyone buying stuff for everyone it wasn’t unusual for the gift-opening part of the day to take three or four hours. That was because my grandpa Ernie insisted that we all open our gifts one-by-one so the person who was thoughtful enough to buy a gift for someone else was properly thanked.  Manners were always a big deal in our family and saying “thank-you” was not voluntary, it was mandatory.

When I lit up the tree this particular night, so many images of Christmas’s past flooded my mind. Over 50 years of spending each and every holiday with numerous family members were all laid out before me. As I write this I’m staring at two Christmas photos: One that was taken when my oldest son was about the age his daughter is now and the other of my grandpa Ernie which was taken a few years before my first son was even born. Grandpa Ernie was wearing a red Polo shirt, red socks and gray pants. I can barely see the silver glitter of his name written on the white part of the Santa hat and he seems to be looking at someone across the room, probably opening their present. Speaking of presents, I can count at least thirty of them lined up behind my grandfather. I’m sure we were there for at least two hours opening gifts after that photo was taken.

In the other photo Alexander had just been handed a gift by my father who was wearing the obligatory red and white Santa hat. The handing out of the gifts was always Grandpa Ernie’s job but he passed on in 1987 and for six years after that, until he passed on as well, my father was our token Santa…still carrying on the tradition of handing out gifts one-by-one.  I think that was also the Christmas where as a joke I gave my sister my diaphragm because I had just had my last child seven month earlier and with my tubes tied, there was no way I was going to need it. I also remember that she didn’t think it was very funny but to this day she still brings that up as the most unique gift ever she received from her older sister.

As the years gained speed the six of us cousins moved around and when my grandmother Bess finally passed on, that also effectively ended over 40 years of a family tradition. Bess and Ernie were the glue that held the immediate family together and for some reason, it was never the same after grandma Bess died. Some of us moved north, some of us moved to the east coast and some stayed in Los Angeles but there was never again another Christmas with the core family.

The Christmas of 2011 is approaching fast and a handful of new traditions are underway. Having become part of a blended family over a year ago it will be wonderful to have a house filled with the love of family over the holiday. And let’s hope the gang isn’t in for the quick fix because with about 15 people here to open gifts, one-by-one, it looks like at least one of the traditions I grew up with will have come full circle.