What does an “old fashioned” Christmas mean to you?
According to Dennis Picard, executive director of Storrowton Village in West Springfield, this cherished vision of the holiday usually springs from the memory of one’s oldest living relatives.
At least that’s what he said when we met to chat about the path the celebration of Christmas has taken in New England – and America – since the days of the Pilgrims.
Working on that story, I thought back to the Christmases I remember as a child – my version of an “old fashioned” Christmas – and found the clashing of traditions he noted had been alive and well in my own family.
My mother’s family was Portuguese – and first generation in this country.
Christmas with them meant celebrating on Christmas Eve and eating special dishes prepared for that feast. The salted codfish would soak in my grandmother’s laundry room set tub for about a week before the holiday, soon to become the deep-fried potato-and-codfish balls that always graced our table. There would be casseroles of rabbit and rice (and sometimes, tuna fish and rice), a big loaf of Italian-like bread stuffed with a spicy Portuguese sausage, and for dessert rich rice pudding – we called it “sweet rice” – (or one made with noodles) and the Portuguese version of fried dough, served liberally sprinkled with cane sugar.
There was always a big Christmas tree in the living room, we opened gifts after the meal – mostly for the children – and in the Catholic tradition, adults that could often went to midnight Mass (or a church service).
My father’s side was Yankee through and through, and my grandmother a staunch Congregationalist. Celebrating with them meant dinner on Christmas Day – usually a repeat of Thanksgiving. The only special foods were my grandmother’s soft and chewy fruit cookies (though she made those year ‘round), fruitcake with something called “hard sauce” and a dish of ribbon candy – shiny multi-colored pleats of brittle sugar – that we could sample once dinner was finished. There were a few small gifts for the children, but the biggest part of the day was trooping upstairs (my grandmother’s dining room was in the cellar of her tidy brick house) to sing hymns and Christmas carols around the piano.
They were both Christmas in America – and for me, now traditions frozen in time.
However you and your family celebrate this holiday season, we at PRIME wish you peace and joy.
P. S. Looking for Gary Kaye’s tech gift suggestions? This year’s list can be found online at https://www.primeontheweb.com/technology/techthehalls/.
Thanks for reading,
Debbie Gardner
debbieg@thereminder.com
