Notes From Christmas Past

This will be my first Christmas without my father.  While I've spent the majority of my holidays in recent years with my husband's family (my family came for Thanksgiving), I have many memories of Christmas, growing up in North Carolina.  We did not "overdo" the holiday, our gifts were not extravagant, but I always knew there was love in my household. How lucky am I? I'll likely never have a Christmas again in my hometown, but there are some special memories that will remain forever, nonetheless.

My mother would take us to Old Salem (like a small Williamsburg) where the Moravian tradition of the candle tea still goes on.  You go to a church service, mostly music, where you are given a candle, a Moravian Bun and a mug of coffee.  The tradition continues today. The aroma of the coffee, the buns, the beeswax candles burning, was intoxicating.

My father would take me and my sisters as children downtown to an old grocery store called W.G. White's where candy was sold in large bins, by the pound. He'd buy us large bags of hard candy during the holidays.  The store is still there but now it's called Ronnie's Country Store.  It looks almost the same now as it did then.

One of our close family friends had this incredible cocktail party every year on Christmas Eve for 200 of their closest friends.  My friend's father was in politics so he had many friends. I've never to this day been to a party quite like this and sadly, her father passed away a few years ago and the tradition has died.  You wore your holiday cocktail attire (no one ever dared to dress down which would be wonderful today).  Their house was incredible (one of their houses was in House Beautiful when it was built in the 1960's), decorated to the nines.  Waiters in white coats served you drinks and food from silver trays.  People stayed for hours, it was that much fun, even on Christmas Eve.

My father took us downtown to the Christmas parade.  I don't know if they still have one or when the parade was held, but I remember bundling up to go see the parade with him as a little girl.

One year my parents went to a party and we found all the presents in the trunk of my dad's car.  You can run but you cannot hide. We were naughty little girls that year but Santa still came.  Cherish your memories with your loved ones. One day they will be only memories.....