I’m hearing a lot about how different Christmas celebrations will be this year. Recommendations are to keep the gatherings small, keep some distance between people, wear masks, wash hands frequently and maybe even meet outdoors.

My family had a casual Christmas gathering at my daughter’s house Sunday. About a dozen of us spent some time together. All of the grandchildren were there except for the Connecticut granddaughter. We talked to her on a video call. Our menu consisted of takeout pizza from an Italian restaurant and homemade cookies.

We used paper plates and plastic cups. I’m sure granddaughter Addie appreciated that. She’s been on hand dishwashing duty since she accidentally put dish liquid (instead of dishwasher soap) in the dishwasher. The resulting bubbles brought up an error code on the three-week-old machine. Until the repairman arrives, she gets to wash all the dishes.

After food and gift opening, most of the grandchildren left for other pursuits. Some had to work and others had various plans. A couple of the guys went outside to dismantle a trampoline. The little great grandchildren had fun playing with new toys as adults cleared away shredded wrapping paper, boxes and bows. When out-of-towners like me departed, some of us did side-hugs to avoid breathing on each other.

Monday, I went to Share Medical Center to report on a special noon board meeting. When I go through the lobby for evening meetings, there are usually very few people around. However, on Monday afternoon the lobby was filled with people waiting to see medical providers. Everyone wore facemasks, but it was a little difficult to keep enough distance. I experienced the new no-contact temperature reading machine, which showed me at 98.5 degrees. Then I was cleared to head down to the basement for the meeting.

After a drop in active Covid numbers in this area at the end of last week, the numbers are rising again. Please continue to take precautions.

Remembering Christmases Past

Although this Christmas is a little different, I’ve seen a lot of changes in Christmas celebrations over the years. When I was a small girl in Missouri, my dad would make arrangements to cut down an evergreen tree from the farm of a friend. He usually had to borrow a vehicle to haul the tree, too.

I especially liked the scent of the pine trees. The branches were more widely spaced than the cedars, but the pines smelled better. And pine needles weren’t as prickly and itchy as the cedar needles.

Although we never lacked for food or shelter, my family had to be careful with money. Santa usually filled our stockings with a fresh apple, a fresh orange and walnuts in the shell. I always received a new doll for Christmas.

One year when I was getting older and knew where the dolls came from, my mom took me to the hardware store to pick out my favorite. After much consideration, I chose one with pretty blonde curls (they were all blondes) and a shiny blue dress.

I was thrilled to find that doll under the tree. However, the way she’d been packaged caused the hair on the back of her head to separate and lie flat. She had a bald spot! My parents offered to try exchanging her, but I wasn’t sending her back even with a flaw.

As I grew older, one of my favorite gifts was actually given to my younger brother. It was an erector set with steel girders and nuts and bolts. It had plans to build bridges, machines, all kinds of interesting structures. Tom was a couple of years younger, so I helped him figure out the instructions. I think I may have enjoyed the erector set more than he did.

After my maternal grandparents moved to our small town and my uncle’s family moved to the area, we started celebrating Christmas with the grandparents. We opened our own family gifts at home and then went to join the extended family for a meal and more gift opening. Sometimes, cousins from other areas would attend.

My grandmother was a creative seamstress who designed her own patterns and used a treadle sewing machine until I was in my teens. Then she upgraded to electric. Since I was her only granddaughter, she made most of my dresses. One Christmas, my uncle from Wyoming came to Missouri. He brought me a skirt and top bought from a store instead of handmade. I loved those because they were so different.

After Lynn and I were married, we celebrated with each of our families. My parents were only 35 miles away, and his parents were in the town where we lived.

In addition to being the news editor for KTTR in Rolla, Lynn was doing photography on the side. He wanted to do a photo Christmas card so we began a tradition in our first year of marriage that lasted 56 years. Last year, I was able to continue without him. Unfortunately, this year we couldn’t get enough family members together so I didn’t manage to get cards out.

Christmas cards seem to be sent less and less. Social media has taken over that role for holiday greetings.

When Lynn and I owned KALV in Alva, someone had to work at the radio station on holidays. Back then, a live person was required to be on duty anytime we were on the air. Frequently either Lynn or I would work shifts on holidays. I remember one Christmas morning I was working while Lynn enjoyed sleeping in. Daughter Marisa called me and asked to open just one gift before I came home. Unfortunately she chose one that required a little assembly, I think a doll stroller, so she still had to wait for Lynn to wake up and put it together.

Marisa sometimes accompanied me to the radio station on holidays. She learned how to be quiet early by attending church services. So when I had to open the mic, I’d signal her to be quiet. She’d watch intently and stay very quiet until a record started spinning on the turntable. She also enjoyed going into the recording studio and pretending she was a disc jockey. The setup included turntables she could operate and a mic. One of her greatest disappointments was that we sold KALV before she could work there.

Having celebrated early, I expected to be alone on Dec. 25. A holiday is always a good time to catch up on bookkeeping at work. Now it looks like I may be traveling to Ponca City. Darrel and Marisa are taking the latest graduating daughter on a long-delayed trip as a graduation gift. I need to pick up Addie and her small parrots for a visit in Alva.

Even though this Christmas is different from others due to Covid restrictions, we’ll still be building memories to enjoy in the future.