Advent Calendar : Holiday Parties

Did your family throw a holiday party each year? Do you remember attending any holiday parties?


My family would gather together on Christmas Eve at my Grandma Wright's house and then on Christmas Day we would gather at my Grandma LeMaster's. It was a fun time to get together with family. As a kid, the holidays were one of the main times to see my cousins.


As kids, at Grandma Wright's house we would always pose for a family picture. It was a way for the kids to keep track of how tall we were. Grandma Wright had a plastic Santa that had a scroll with a list of each one of our names on it. Today, my parents keep up this tradition with their grandkids.

December 1971

Grandma LeMaster's house was always packed with our large family and there was always a lot of food - plenty of mashed potatoes, noodles, etc. After lunch would be the passing out of presents, then watching sports and falling asleep on the couch.

December 1983

One year that stands out in my memory was a Christmas party which must have been in 1983. My grandmother Wright was very ill, and had been living with us. She wanted to go to Anderson where her sister was having a Christmas party. The weather was blizzard-like conditions, but she was determined that we had to go. Somehow, dad was able to drive us through the drifting snow and bitter cold to my great-aunt's house so we could spend some time with them. I don't remember much about the party other than the fact that weather-wise, we should have stayed home, but the visit made grandma happy. She passed away the next spring.