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Terry Fenwick
December 27, 1999 Christmas at the Fenwick's I am getting too old for this, however. WOW ! By the end of the day, to make a trip upstairs felt like climbing Mt. Everest. Sir Edmund Hillary could not have made it if he had been a 67 year old grandmother.
The grandchildren and children were darling, all of them. They all have such an incredible sense of humor. I love that part best ! Strongly opinionated, but all of them very funny.
We began our day with the Gospel according to St. Luke and Grandfather/Father read to the group, as he always does from a little book which for 40 years we have had on the coffee table at Christmas. It has pictures but the Gospel is word for word the WORD and we all smile when we begin. It is not just "tradition". . . it is a "happening" here at our home. Chris said yesterday that "we have to have Father's portrait done holding that little book."
Dinner was next to magnificent and the tables and the house were, as Chris Fenwick, always says, "like a magazine cover." Candles glowing all around. Christmas lights in every room. Chris says, "eating at 'our' table is like being in the best magazine in the world." He says that to all of us every year, and it has become part of the Christmas Celebration. Isn't that sweet? He is very affirming.
Caviar pie, brie, all the greatest and richest crackers and breads used for these rich foods, shrimp, pate, many blends of pate ! some with truffles, nuts (who ate all the cashews??????), other great cheeses galore, hot garlic artichoke dip, dips of all kinds, salsa, vegetables (for the health nuts) and sparkling cider until everyone bubbled, as well as our regular family punch.
The food and timing were to the split second. . .turkey, whole ham and everything you might want. People brought their specialities. . .like incredible potatoes and sweet potatoes and spinach bread (which is a flat hot cheese and spinach dish. . .called bread (???why???), and the best rolls and butter and salads, cranberries, olives galore and all those things you love if you are a kid. Who isn't a kid at Christmas? The coffee at the end was delightful. Tim does the best coffee at Christmas. Why is it the men seem to make the best coffee? Tom does the best coffee at Thanksgiving. The pies were cranberry-walnut and gorgeous, the pecan tart, ( my VERY favorite) grenache which is chocolate AND so rich that no one can eat more than one finger thin slice, but it is great !!!!, (did not even bring out the NY Cheesecake) cookies galore. . .those ones that taste like Heath Bars and then sugar cookies and candies from everywhere and surely. . . I am forgetting things. You do that at my age !
No alcohol on Christmas. No alcohol served over here on the coast because of the "hill" and the "booze" and also because of the witness to the, and for the, grandchildren. Although the house is filled with champagne right now because of all the great buys for the New Year Celebration, Tom and I did not even share a bottle of champagne (before bed) because we were too tired. My! are we getting old? Y2K will be fun for us if we have no water !
There were so many great "high" moments of the day. Seeing little Brooke open a present she wanted and being so animated was so cute. She screamed with delight and could have been used in a commercial. Everyone else was as delighted as Brooke was !!!! So infectious. We should have captured "the grand opening" for Brooke on video, but did not. Sorry to say ! She would have loved it in the years to come. One of the most wonderful things about "this moment" was that Brooke's other grandmother, Ma Mere, was here from Boston to catch the moment. It was truly one where you "had to be there!"
One of the highlights of the day for me was when three of the grandchildren, Jennifer 17, Stephanie 14 and Holly 14, went into the guest room closet and took out all the wonderful formal gowns, bridemaid's dresses, and wedding gown and all of the sequin dresses. They have always used these to play "dress up" since they were only 2 and 3 feet tall. It is part of the Christmas day. "Grandmother, may we play dress- up? pleeeeasssse? pleeeeassse?" They used to get "pinned" into them, and they had lots of wonderful veils and gloves. They would drag the skirts around and some were tied up with ribbons around their waist to keep them from falling and tripping. Black and white satin dresses and all of that jazz. Lots of tulle on many, turquoise sequins on one with netting. So many wonderful dresses. They came out, dressed and looking beautiful and they all fit these beautiful young ladies . The three of them did the song and scene from the opening of MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING and looked so cute. Well, not cute--beautiful. I knew in a moment. . . I was old, and they are young, and have a life ahead of them that will be worth watching. They are all three believers! God is good to me. God is good.
Who was here? Ma and Pa, that is Tom and Terry, of course. Tom, Leslie, Rob, Matt, Ana, Stephanie, Ashley, Tim, Shelly, Jennifer, Holly, Rebecca, Chris, Beth, Jon, Christine, Christine's Mother, Anne, Brooke Anne. Not as many as last year. . .nor past years. . . missing Ted, Renee, Nicole, Jessica (in Arizona), Kevin, Marie Christine, Gallagher, Battiste, and Naomi (in France), and Michael, Karen, and Julia (in Vermont). But still a wonderful group !!!! Wonderful group here ! Handsome Christian men, and great fathers. Gorgeous Christian women and great mothers. Hard working men. Honest men. All men from my womb, by the way, which makes me feel very full and happy.
One day they will have caviar pie, and shrimp and sit at a beautiful table with candles all around, and laugh and tell stories of their childhood. I pray they will recall days like yesterday as warm and filled with love. I pray that.
© Chris Fenwick 2006 |
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