| Grandma Bogard's Christmas Eve |
Christmas was Grandma's most favorite holiday and she made it ours too. Grandma Bogard worked all year long baby sitting and taking in ironing to earn money to buy her children and grandchildren Christmas presents. The tree had more presents under it then I have ever seen anywhere. Every Christmas Eve as far back as I can remember, we were at Grandma Bogard's house for Chistmas. Santy Claus always made his first stop there. (Evidently he made his last stop at the Townsend house on Christmas morning.) Mom and Dad would pack all the presents for our cousins and Aunts and Grandma and Grandpa in the car and we were off to Grandma's house. She always had coffee for Grandpa and Dad and our Uncle Tom brewing. She had oranges for us kids to enjoy. (We did not even have to ask for them.) The hardest part was waiting for our cousins Joyce and Larry to get there and listen to the conversations going on in the background. Us kids sat and pretended to pay attention while we stared at the beautiful tree that Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Sylvia had decorated and of course Grandma's nativity scene was always there, where we would remember it was Jesus Birthday. She had all kinds of decorations and there was always Christmas music in the background with Gene Autry singing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, and Frosty the Snowman and all the other great Christmas songs. Finally the cousins would show up and after they got all their coats off and put away and they found a place on the floor with us around the tree. Aunt Sylvia would pass out the gifts. One present we could always count on were the chocolate covered cherries from Aunt Bertha. (To this day I don't pass a display of chocolate cover cherries with out thinking of her.) I don't remember all the other presents, (there were to many). But I do remember all the love we all had for each other and especially for Grandma. After we tore open all the presents and picked up all the paper we loaded up the car with more presents than what we had brought to grandma's, we went home exhausted. Ready for Santy Claus last stop. As I grew older and went away I always had everybody in my heart on Christmas Eve and could see them at Grandmas. I don't think there is a one of us who does not go to Grandma's house in our minds on Christmas Eve. Where we were all together and had tremendous love for each other and a lot of fun. Chirtmas at Grandma's is no more, but we still have the same love in our heart that grew there. We may not be able to share this holiday together but because of grandma we all have a vivid memory of being with each other on Christmas. |
| In honor and memory of Lillie Mae Bogard |
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