Seasons Of Christmases Past
SEASONS OF CHRISTMASES PAST
by Desiree de Angelise
Memories begin with the fragrant pine scent of a real tree, strings of cranberries, popcorn and often hand-made paper chains as well as lights and ornaments. It is interesting that while I only was thinking of the "dollhouse" Christmas, the one in San Francisco and Kansas City as I began writing this, so many more came to mind.
As a very young child, about three, we lived in Northern California in a small house one house away from the Seahorns. I don't remember much specifically about the Seahorns' Christmas; however I do remember their tree, decorations and their Catholic traditions. Raymond, their son, was my playmate and we lived directly across from the City Park with its rose gardens, swings etc. and as I have written, Jay, was a special
by Desiree de Angelise
Memories begin with the fragrant pine scent of a real tree, strings of cranberries, popcorn and often hand-made paper chains as well as lights and ornaments. It is interesting that while I only was thinking of the "dollhouse" Christmas, the one in San Francisco and Kansas City as I began writing this, so many more came to mind.
As a very young child, about three, we lived in Northern California in a small house one house away from the Seahorns. I don't remember much specifically about the Seahorns' Christmas; however I do remember their tree, decorations and their Catholic traditions. Raymond, their son, was my playmate and we lived directly across from the City Park with its rose gardens, swings etc. and as I have written, Jay, was a special
infuence in my life and gave me unconditional love.
A few years later was a favorite memory when the Bishops gifted me with my dollhouse. The Bishops, a couple I met on my tricycle trips as they lived close by. They later became acquainted with my parents and told my mother they were unable to have children, so I was "shared." We often went on short trips to smell the roses and watch the swans, go to the zoo etc. Then for a variety of reasons, including my father's new job, we moved to Sacramento and the Bishops came by for Christmas with my gift, a hand made and decorated three-part dollhouse, created just for me. Can you imagine the hours of love poured into that dollhouse? Evidently the Universe did, because shortly thereafter, Mrs. Bishop became pregnant and when a baby girl was born, she was named after me.
One of the reasons why Christmas was so special to me was that everyone in my family got together to celebrate. My mother had three sisters, Helen lived in the same town, Rene in Los Angeles, and Dorothy in Imperial Valley. My Aunt Dorothy and Uncle Harold visited from Imperial Valley, bringing dates, citrus fruit etc. from that area. Aunt Dorothy, a December "baby" had a birthday on the 17th, so was very into Christmas. When she arrived we got to see the glorious, wonder-filled wrappings as she placed them under the tree. Aunt Dorothy's knack was not only wrapping amazingly beautiful packages, but also of choosing the "perfect" gift for each person. Not only were we gifted with her joy, love and Christmas spirit, but the Christmas tree itself showed off extra wonder and beauty.
Since my parents and aunt and uncle had businesses in town, we made the trip to Imperial Valley for Christmases there only once every seven years. Uncle Harold had a ranch and farmed in Imperial Valley, thus the possibility of the visit for a few days over Christmas. This tradition continued during my childhood and later; however while I was in high school my adoptive parents got a divorce, so while this tradition continued, it then was just my mother and me traveling with my aunt and uncle.
Aunt Dorothy and Uncle had a daughter, Kay, and later my cousin, Pat and Tom had two children, Christine and Danny, also adding to the family celebrations as the family grew.
After graduating high school, I attended Mills College on a scholarship and had another very special Christmas. It began while still at Mills, celebrating before all friends and the other students left for home. Not only were the Halls, where we lived, decorated, but there was an amazing Christmas party! That special building had two huge fireplaces on either end with greens and festive decorations on their mantles as well as a lighted and decorated tree. The Dean read the "Night Before Christmas," carols were sung and a new carol written by one of the students was introduced, too, with the hot apple cider and decorated sugar cookies. Everyone was in a celebratory mood as well as saying our "goodbyes" and "see you next year" since we had a three-week break before the next semester began. My mother picked me up and we went to San Francisco to continue this festive time.
San Francisco at Christmastime was full of decorations, wonder-filled store windows, flower stands with holly, pines etc. and music and carolers. We parked underground at Union Square and then went across the street to Blum's, a favorite place to eat; however, no longer there. After that we began shopping. We were looking for a gift for my Aunt Helen and Uncle Dan. My Uncle Dan years before had given me my dog, a blonde cocker spaniel who I had adored. My aunt and uncle had a furniture store where my mother worked as a decorator and they had been such a support during my parent's divorce etc. that we wanted to get them a special gift. We began by going to Gump's, one of those very San Francisco stores with lovely things and festively decorated shop windows. As it turned out one of the festively decorated windows showcased this amazing brass circular candelabra with places at the same height for eight candles. We went inside to price it and discovered it was too expensive for what we had planned to spend, so we continued shopping. We didn't find anything else and and then my mother commented that she was also there to pick out something for my aunt and uncle from those who worked at the furniture store. Eventually we decided that with that money and ours together we could purchase the glorious candelabra. Not only were my aunt and uncle delighted with their Christmas gift, but also for years thereafter the special gift became a part of holidays and special occasions for many years, including many, many years later when my two children were christened, it was part of the ceremony.
A few years later I spent my first married Christmas in San Francisco, while working part-time at The White House, another store no longer there, in the Christmas department. Working there was interesting and being in downtown San Francisco for Christmas was beautiful in so many ways. One of the treasures I found while working were German ornaments, magical small white ones decorated with a sprinkling of gold glitter, looking like fairies had created them. I purchased two boxes, used them there and then for many years, very carefully packed, they accompanied me whenever and wherever I moved. My marriage to a high school love did not last; however, the ornaments made it for about twenty years and then gradually broke and were gone.
Another marriage, this time to a college classmate from Minnesota, which was where we moved. I had my first Christmas away from California and my family. We lived in the far north and spent that Christmas in another very small Minnesota town with my in-laws, and I had a very different Christmas. We had, however, gone to our property in still a different rural area of Minnesota to find and cut down our own Christmas tree. We had no decorations, so I made some using madras print pink crape paper, cut into flower shapes with yarn in the middle and and all of it dipped into wax. They were colorful and festive. That year I also made homemade gifts and packaged them n yarn to look like candles. The flower decorations were saved, used for a number of years. After Christmas that year, my mother flew to Minneapolis where we picked her up and drove to the far north. She stayed with us for a few days and then left on a grey snowy day, getting into a very small prop plane out of nearby International Falls I was very relieved for the phone call saying she had safely landed in Minneapolis and knowing that she was boarding a regular sized plane for the flight back to California. And again very glad when she called on her arrival home.
Some years later we moved back to California for my then husband's graduate studies and I became pregnant, so we had a very special Christmas when my daughter Holly was born just before Christmas. Thus the name "Holly" as she was due on Christmas day. I was very relieved when she came early since that meant she was able to be seen by all the relatives, instead of them spending time looking at my "stomach" and wondering when! We even had a photo of her dressed in a red handmade tiny gown and held under the Christmas tree. And since she came early, she and I were even able to attend some of the festivities. The following year we spent in Imperial Valley and Uncle Harold introduced Holly to Mexican food and especially, guacamole, which she loved; however her diapers did not. To this day she loves guacamole.
Several years later my son, Brian was born in September, so both children were born at a new hospital in my hometown in Northern California. That year we spent Christmas in Southern California at my Aunt Dorothy's new home at Carlsbad, CA., near San Diego. Holly hadn't been sick by the time of Brian's birth, so I wasn't used to worrying about that. We traveled to Aunt Dorthy and Uncle Harold's that year and it became scary when Brian, at only a few moths old, came down with a cold and was unable to cry or be heard; however, thankfully he bounced back quickly. On the other side, the weather was perfect and warm, the hibiscus were blooming, and we not only had Christmas right at the edge of the Pacific, we had grilled turkey! We could even watch the surfers from the picture window. and then the next year we moved to Wisconsin.
We spent Brian's first Christmas and Holly's birthday and Christmas in Wisconsin, in a very small rented house. The weather cooperated, snowing on Christmas Eve with a lovely light magical snowfall. Holly and Brian had needlepoint stockings which I had begun and we had continued making. My Aunt Rene, who worked for special dress designers in the Los Angeles area, carried on the tradition and gifted Holly & Brian with needlepoint ornaments in various themes which continued to add to our holiday tree and spirit. The next year we moved into our home, an older house in town, where we spent many years and Christmases. Then when Holly and Brian were older we moved out across from a lake and into our Geodesic Dome home, where we again spent a number of years and Christmases. Having moved in the fall to a shell of the dome attached to a small original cabin, we got to create our own home, slate on the floors and special kitchen cabinets and counters, including one used as our table. The first year was just working on it in many ways, walls, ceiling etc. ; however by the second Christmas we really decorated. We had a real tree and I had found an amazing glass top table, sitting on a rock base displaying my angel collection. An emerald green swag was above part of the geodesic windows and with our dark furniture, we needed something more festive to celebrate the season, so I found some red and green plaid taffeta, which I sewed and used to cover pillows and use on tables etc., creating a holiday look. We also continued to get fresh trees, greenery, and wreaths of some kind and often shared our home with special friends as well as had it for theatre and cast parties.
Another very special Christmas was when Holly and Brian were in high school and we had a French "daughter," Joanna, who stayed with us for some months as a Rotary foreign student and we took her to Minnesota to celebrate with relatives who also were hosting for the year a foreign "daughter" Suzanna, from Spain. This festive Christmas celebration was a highlight and then we all returned to our Geodesic home in Wisconsin and to Joanna's early January birthday. That was especially wonderful since her mother, Anne-Marie, flew from France to celebrate it, too, staying with us. We were able to communicate and Brian practiced his French. Holly and Anne-Marie hit it off, too, and I really enjoyed Anne-Marie, who even cooked us a wonderful French meal, so it was a special time for all. That year we celebrated Anne-Marie's stay and the extended holidays as well as our Minnesota Christmas.
We did get back to California to celebrate Christmas and Holly's birthday when she was older. And I got to see my family's celebration of Christmas from a different perspective. When Holly and Brian had been visiting before they had made friends with the children in the neighborhood, children of friends and their older cousins. We went to Old Town in Sacramento where Holly even got to make a recording and share with friends. She also got her birthday party with a pinata hung on an almond tree in my mother's small courtyard. Plus we got in on all my family's celebrating, gifts, special holiday dinner and other festivities, including going to The Nut Tree, a favorite restaurant with wonderful food, a small train, airport, children's area and special toy store as well as a glass entrance with tropical birds, wonderful paintings, and other artistic decorations and touches. Then we flew home to a luckily not terribly cold day and night in Wisconsin, since we came back to a not working furnace, which after we snuggled together was fixed the next day.
Then many years later I was in Kansas City and experienced on my own a very different Christmas. My children were adults in college, so while I missed them, I was totally caught up in a Kansas City Christmas with all the lights and decorations, Dances of Universal Peace, which I had discovered while studying at Unity Village which was also decorated in lights etc. for the season. I had even found a part-time Christmas job at "Every Day's A Holiday" which had wonderful items. I purchased several special ornaments for Holly and Brian and a few small magical items for myself and my friends. That year was really a Unity Christmas for me as I attended Unity Church Universal and even participated in a "Spiritual Baptism" themed around the Magi and their special gifts. My friend from Canada and Unity Village graciously took me there for the morning service, having already been to an earlier service at Unity on the Plaza and then we returned for the Christmas Eve service at UCU, for music, carols and Fr. Giovani's letter, which was amazingly wonder-filled, and which I have shared in writings much later.. We participated in the candle-lighting, placing our lighted candle in a box of "salt," which the minister explained was why baby's were "salted" in the Middle East and we had such words as "the salt of the earth" and "salary". After almost floating out of that church we attended one more service, a midnight one at a church close to the two states of Missouri and Kansas. That made three Christmas services for me and four for my friend, Christina! And then I was picked up again the next day to attend a Christmas Dinner with all the trimmings with Unity friends.
Later I returned home and yet was never again able to recapture a spiritual experience from that incredibly magical, mystical time. I went back to Unity Village and attended more classes and then returned home.
It was interesting because I had gone there originally just to take some classes so I could host a book group and then fell in love with the area, especially Unity Village and Kansas City and the classes and workshops; however, since I had the opportunity to contribute and lead a few events there I found out that the leadership was not interested in celebrations, a joyful one honoring the 150th birthday of one of the Founders, and a version of Unity Village's own "Peace Day" when the Middle East was in chaos over an assassination of a leader and I led a group sending "Peace" energy to that area. I thought both events were important and would be welcomed; however, since they were not, I chose to go in a different way which has included writing articles, creating workshops, and more recently this blog and my Facebook Page of co-creation with a lot of talented, creative people--musicians, artists, spiritual leaders and innovators who are interested in making a difference. My page includes inspiration and beauty, flowers, music and quotes and some videos, etc.
Since my time at Unity Village and Kansas City I have created my own way of observing Christmas with my adult children or on my own. My experiences there and other issues contributed to looking at things differently and also led to my divorce. I still love the fragrance of pine honoring the season, so even if in an apartment which does not allow real trees, I get holly and pine branches and/or wreaths for that Christmas smell and add some kind of festive decorations. My spiritual celebration of the season combines many traditions as well as my own inovation and container candles.
A few years later was a favorite memory when the Bishops gifted me with my dollhouse. The Bishops, a couple I met on my tricycle trips as they lived close by. They later became acquainted with my parents and told my mother they were unable to have children, so I was "shared." We often went on short trips to smell the roses and watch the swans, go to the zoo etc. Then for a variety of reasons, including my father's new job, we moved to Sacramento and the Bishops came by for Christmas with my gift, a hand made and decorated three-part dollhouse, created just for me. Can you imagine the hours of love poured into that dollhouse? Evidently the Universe did, because shortly thereafter, Mrs. Bishop became pregnant and when a baby girl was born, she was named after me.
One of the reasons why Christmas was so special to me was that everyone in my family got together to celebrate. My mother had three sisters, Helen lived in the same town, Rene in Los Angeles, and Dorothy in Imperial Valley. My Aunt Dorothy and Uncle Harold visited from Imperial Valley, bringing dates, citrus fruit etc. from that area. Aunt Dorothy, a December "baby" had a birthday on the 17th, so was very into Christmas. When she arrived we got to see the glorious, wonder-filled wrappings as she placed them under the tree. Aunt Dorothy's knack was not only wrapping amazingly beautiful packages, but also of choosing the "perfect" gift for each person. Not only were we gifted with her joy, love and Christmas spirit, but the Christmas tree itself showed off extra wonder and beauty.
Since my parents and aunt and uncle had businesses in town, we made the trip to Imperial Valley for Christmases there only once every seven years. Uncle Harold had a ranch and farmed in Imperial Valley, thus the possibility of the visit for a few days over Christmas. This tradition continued during my childhood and later; however while I was in high school my adoptive parents got a divorce, so while this tradition continued, it then was just my mother and me traveling with my aunt and uncle.
Aunt Dorothy and Uncle had a daughter, Kay, and later my cousin, Pat and Tom had two children, Christine and Danny, also adding to the family celebrations as the family grew.
After graduating high school, I attended Mills College on a scholarship and had another very special Christmas. It began while still at Mills, celebrating before all friends and the other students left for home. Not only were the Halls, where we lived, decorated, but there was an amazing Christmas party! That special building had two huge fireplaces on either end with greens and festive decorations on their mantles as well as a lighted and decorated tree. The Dean read the "Night Before Christmas," carols were sung and a new carol written by one of the students was introduced, too, with the hot apple cider and decorated sugar cookies. Everyone was in a celebratory mood as well as saying our "goodbyes" and "see you next year" since we had a three-week break before the next semester began. My mother picked me up and we went to San Francisco to continue this festive time.
San Francisco at Christmastime was full of decorations, wonder-filled store windows, flower stands with holly, pines etc. and music and carolers. We parked underground at Union Square and then went across the street to Blum's, a favorite place to eat; however, no longer there. After that we began shopping. We were looking for a gift for my Aunt Helen and Uncle Dan. My Uncle Dan years before had given me my dog, a blonde cocker spaniel who I had adored. My aunt and uncle had a furniture store where my mother worked as a decorator and they had been such a support during my parent's divorce etc. that we wanted to get them a special gift. We began by going to Gump's, one of those very San Francisco stores with lovely things and festively decorated shop windows. As it turned out one of the festively decorated windows showcased this amazing brass circular candelabra with places at the same height for eight candles. We went inside to price it and discovered it was too expensive for what we had planned to spend, so we continued shopping. We didn't find anything else and and then my mother commented that she was also there to pick out something for my aunt and uncle from those who worked at the furniture store. Eventually we decided that with that money and ours together we could purchase the glorious candelabra. Not only were my aunt and uncle delighted with their Christmas gift, but also for years thereafter the special gift became a part of holidays and special occasions for many years, including many, many years later when my two children were christened, it was part of the ceremony.
A few years later I spent my first married Christmas in San Francisco, while working part-time at The White House, another store no longer there, in the Christmas department. Working there was interesting and being in downtown San Francisco for Christmas was beautiful in so many ways. One of the treasures I found while working were German ornaments, magical small white ones decorated with a sprinkling of gold glitter, looking like fairies had created them. I purchased two boxes, used them there and then for many years, very carefully packed, they accompanied me whenever and wherever I moved. My marriage to a high school love did not last; however, the ornaments made it for about twenty years and then gradually broke and were gone.
Another marriage, this time to a college classmate from Minnesota, which was where we moved. I had my first Christmas away from California and my family. We lived in the far north and spent that Christmas in another very small Minnesota town with my in-laws, and I had a very different Christmas. We had, however, gone to our property in still a different rural area of Minnesota to find and cut down our own Christmas tree. We had no decorations, so I made some using madras print pink crape paper, cut into flower shapes with yarn in the middle and and all of it dipped into wax. They were colorful and festive. That year I also made homemade gifts and packaged them n yarn to look like candles. The flower decorations were saved, used for a number of years. After Christmas that year, my mother flew to Minneapolis where we picked her up and drove to the far north. She stayed with us for a few days and then left on a grey snowy day, getting into a very small prop plane out of nearby International Falls I was very relieved for the phone call saying she had safely landed in Minneapolis and knowing that she was boarding a regular sized plane for the flight back to California. And again very glad when she called on her arrival home.
Some years later we moved back to California for my then husband's graduate studies and I became pregnant, so we had a very special Christmas when my daughter Holly was born just before Christmas. Thus the name "Holly" as she was due on Christmas day. I was very relieved when she came early since that meant she was able to be seen by all the relatives, instead of them spending time looking at my "stomach" and wondering when! We even had a photo of her dressed in a red handmade tiny gown and held under the Christmas tree. And since she came early, she and I were even able to attend some of the festivities. The following year we spent in Imperial Valley and Uncle Harold introduced Holly to Mexican food and especially, guacamole, which she loved; however her diapers did not. To this day she loves guacamole.
Several years later my son, Brian was born in September, so both children were born at a new hospital in my hometown in Northern California. That year we spent Christmas in Southern California at my Aunt Dorothy's new home at Carlsbad, CA., near San Diego. Holly hadn't been sick by the time of Brian's birth, so I wasn't used to worrying about that. We traveled to Aunt Dorthy and Uncle Harold's that year and it became scary when Brian, at only a few moths old, came down with a cold and was unable to cry or be heard; however, thankfully he bounced back quickly. On the other side, the weather was perfect and warm, the hibiscus were blooming, and we not only had Christmas right at the edge of the Pacific, we had grilled turkey! We could even watch the surfers from the picture window. and then the next year we moved to Wisconsin.
We spent Brian's first Christmas and Holly's birthday and Christmas in Wisconsin, in a very small rented house. The weather cooperated, snowing on Christmas Eve with a lovely light magical snowfall. Holly and Brian had needlepoint stockings which I had begun and we had continued making. My Aunt Rene, who worked for special dress designers in the Los Angeles area, carried on the tradition and gifted Holly & Brian with needlepoint ornaments in various themes which continued to add to our holiday tree and spirit. The next year we moved into our home, an older house in town, where we spent many years and Christmases. Then when Holly and Brian were older we moved out across from a lake and into our Geodesic Dome home, where we again spent a number of years and Christmases. Having moved in the fall to a shell of the dome attached to a small original cabin, we got to create our own home, slate on the floors and special kitchen cabinets and counters, including one used as our table. The first year was just working on it in many ways, walls, ceiling etc. ; however by the second Christmas we really decorated. We had a real tree and I had found an amazing glass top table, sitting on a rock base displaying my angel collection. An emerald green swag was above part of the geodesic windows and with our dark furniture, we needed something more festive to celebrate the season, so I found some red and green plaid taffeta, which I sewed and used to cover pillows and use on tables etc., creating a holiday look. We also continued to get fresh trees, greenery, and wreaths of some kind and often shared our home with special friends as well as had it for theatre and cast parties.
Another very special Christmas was when Holly and Brian were in high school and we had a French "daughter," Joanna, who stayed with us for some months as a Rotary foreign student and we took her to Minnesota to celebrate with relatives who also were hosting for the year a foreign "daughter" Suzanna, from Spain. This festive Christmas celebration was a highlight and then we all returned to our Geodesic home in Wisconsin and to Joanna's early January birthday. That was especially wonderful since her mother, Anne-Marie, flew from France to celebrate it, too, staying with us. We were able to communicate and Brian practiced his French. Holly and Anne-Marie hit it off, too, and I really enjoyed Anne-Marie, who even cooked us a wonderful French meal, so it was a special time for all. That year we celebrated Anne-Marie's stay and the extended holidays as well as our Minnesota Christmas.
We did get back to California to celebrate Christmas and Holly's birthday when she was older. And I got to see my family's celebration of Christmas from a different perspective. When Holly and Brian had been visiting before they had made friends with the children in the neighborhood, children of friends and their older cousins. We went to Old Town in Sacramento where Holly even got to make a recording and share with friends. She also got her birthday party with a pinata hung on an almond tree in my mother's small courtyard. Plus we got in on all my family's celebrating, gifts, special holiday dinner and other festivities, including going to The Nut Tree, a favorite restaurant with wonderful food, a small train, airport, children's area and special toy store as well as a glass entrance with tropical birds, wonderful paintings, and other artistic decorations and touches. Then we flew home to a luckily not terribly cold day and night in Wisconsin, since we came back to a not working furnace, which after we snuggled together was fixed the next day.
Then many years later I was in Kansas City and experienced on my own a very different Christmas. My children were adults in college, so while I missed them, I was totally caught up in a Kansas City Christmas with all the lights and decorations, Dances of Universal Peace, which I had discovered while studying at Unity Village which was also decorated in lights etc. for the season. I had even found a part-time Christmas job at "Every Day's A Holiday" which had wonderful items. I purchased several special ornaments for Holly and Brian and a few small magical items for myself and my friends. That year was really a Unity Christmas for me as I attended Unity Church Universal and even participated in a "Spiritual Baptism" themed around the Magi and their special gifts. My friend from Canada and Unity Village graciously took me there for the morning service, having already been to an earlier service at Unity on the Plaza and then we returned for the Christmas Eve service at UCU, for music, carols and Fr. Giovani's letter, which was amazingly wonder-filled, and which I have shared in writings much later.. We participated in the candle-lighting, placing our lighted candle in a box of "salt," which the minister explained was why baby's were "salted" in the Middle East and we had such words as "the salt of the earth" and "salary". After almost floating out of that church we attended one more service, a midnight one at a church close to the two states of Missouri and Kansas. That made three Christmas services for me and four for my friend, Christina! And then I was picked up again the next day to attend a Christmas Dinner with all the trimmings with Unity friends.
Later I returned home and yet was never again able to recapture a spiritual experience from that incredibly magical, mystical time. I went back to Unity Village and attended more classes and then returned home.
It was interesting because I had gone there originally just to take some classes so I could host a book group and then fell in love with the area, especially Unity Village and Kansas City and the classes and workshops; however, since I had the opportunity to contribute and lead a few events there I found out that the leadership was not interested in celebrations, a joyful one honoring the 150th birthday of one of the Founders, and a version of Unity Village's own "Peace Day" when the Middle East was in chaos over an assassination of a leader and I led a group sending "Peace" energy to that area. I thought both events were important and would be welcomed; however, since they were not, I chose to go in a different way which has included writing articles, creating workshops, and more recently this blog and my Facebook Page of co-creation with a lot of talented, creative people--musicians, artists, spiritual leaders and innovators who are interested in making a difference. My page includes inspiration and beauty, flowers, music and quotes and some videos, etc.
Since my time at Unity Village and Kansas City I have created my own way of observing Christmas with my adult children or on my own. My experiences there and other issues contributed to looking at things differently and also led to my divorce. I still love the fragrance of pine honoring the season, so even if in an apartment which does not allow real trees, I get holly and pine branches and/or wreaths for that Christmas smell and add some kind of festive decorations. My spiritual celebration of the season combines many traditions as well as my own inovation and container candles.
Love & Light Blessings for these Holy Days and Celebration of Light--Desiree
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