Christmas Gifts

I miss buying presents for everyone, wrapping them on the kitchen table, delivering them up to my friends and family. But there are so many wonderful things about Christmas here. Historically Christmas is a family thing here. All the family gathers for Christmas Eve and Christmas day and many other parties during the season. The entire family participates, and in that way, it reminds me of Christmas many years ago in the U.S., a time when life was simpler. I always think of Christmas as a kid when we all went to Gramma's house! Grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, old, young, everyone. And presents under the tree for everyone. Of course most of the presents were handmade. Not because we were so arty and creative and individualistic, but because there was no money to buy lots of store-bought things. For some reason, I always remember making pin cushions out of walnut shells! Every adult in the family must have had a huge collection of walnut shell pin cushions accumulating in a drawer somewhere! But it was important to have a gift for each person. A lot of aprons got made. My mother worked on her knitting year round. We all had the most beautiful sweaters. And every kid in town had a pair of my mother's mittens! My grandmother crocheted beautiful things. Everybody made something.