Friday, December 08, 2006
PRECIOUS MEMORIES.....
It is time for the traditional Christmas card season. I grew up in a family where cards were very important. When I was a little girl I remember the long lists of family and friends and it was an exciting time. It was still in the days when each one had a personal, handwritten note telling of the recent news around the family. No matter what else was on the calendar, Christmas cards were selected with great care and time was made to send each loved one good wishes for a Merry Christmas.
In those days women washed with Maytag wringer washers, the laundry was hung on clotheslines and almost everything that was worn had to be ironed, including most of the linens. Dishes were washed and dried by hand, food had to be cooked each meal (no microwaves or instant foods) and women sewed most of the clothing for the family. Housecleaning was much more difficult without all the modern conveniences.
How did they manage to write in all those cards? Today we have every modern convenience imaginable…..all guaranteed to give us more time. Yet it seems we have less time than those good old days when life seemed a lot slower and more peaceful.
Every year my grandmother made flannel pajamas for all the grandchildren and great grandchildren. My three always knew what to expect from grandma. She made their first kimono’s when she found out another baby was on the way. The care she took sewing bias tape on the edges turned out a flawless piece each time. I could never sew bias tape on anything with the ease and accuracy grandma did.
Most other gifts were handmade as well. Aprons, hot pads, place mats, tea towels and such were prized by the family. I can still hear that old treadle machine of grandma’s busily humming along as she sewed. I liked to sit at the dining room table as she laid patterns out and cut, notched and marked for sewing. She was always careful how she put the patterns on the cloth so as to save all of the material she could. Grandma wasn’t one to be wasteful.
Grandmothers of today have been freed from the household chores and are more apt to be found at “Red Hat” meetings, volunteering at local hospitals, taking yoga classes, following their careers in the business world, getting their hair and nails done or heading for a cruise liner.
The living is faster, the cards hold a universal printed page of the year in review, the holiday fare is picked up at the local deli and gifts are ordered and sent on line to the family……who, of course, lives half-way across the country now. I guess the modern lifestyle is alright for most and I take advantage of some of it myself. Still, at this time of year, my heart goes soaring backwards to the days when we had so much less but had a lot more time to enjoy the season.
The best Christmas is not one where we “get” the most but one where we partake of the richness of it all. When the star over the stable seems to shine overhead and when we stop to listen….the angels sing. The best Christmas is friendship, family and faith…….and the best gift is being able to keep it in our hearts all year long.
As I write my cards this year a prayer goes along with each……that peace and love and health prevail…..and all will touch beyond my reach………
Until next time,
Essentially Esther
In those days women washed with Maytag wringer washers, the laundry was hung on clotheslines and almost everything that was worn had to be ironed, including most of the linens. Dishes were washed and dried by hand, food had to be cooked each meal (no microwaves or instant foods) and women sewed most of the clothing for the family. Housecleaning was much more difficult without all the modern conveniences.
How did they manage to write in all those cards? Today we have every modern convenience imaginable…..all guaranteed to give us more time. Yet it seems we have less time than those good old days when life seemed a lot slower and more peaceful.
Every year my grandmother made flannel pajamas for all the grandchildren and great grandchildren. My three always knew what to expect from grandma. She made their first kimono’s when she found out another baby was on the way. The care she took sewing bias tape on the edges turned out a flawless piece each time. I could never sew bias tape on anything with the ease and accuracy grandma did.
Most other gifts were handmade as well. Aprons, hot pads, place mats, tea towels and such were prized by the family. I can still hear that old treadle machine of grandma’s busily humming along as she sewed. I liked to sit at the dining room table as she laid patterns out and cut, notched and marked for sewing. She was always careful how she put the patterns on the cloth so as to save all of the material she could. Grandma wasn’t one to be wasteful.
Grandmothers of today have been freed from the household chores and are more apt to be found at “Red Hat” meetings, volunteering at local hospitals, taking yoga classes, following their careers in the business world, getting their hair and nails done or heading for a cruise liner.
The living is faster, the cards hold a universal printed page of the year in review, the holiday fare is picked up at the local deli and gifts are ordered and sent on line to the family……who, of course, lives half-way across the country now. I guess the modern lifestyle is alright for most and I take advantage of some of it myself. Still, at this time of year, my heart goes soaring backwards to the days when we had so much less but had a lot more time to enjoy the season.
The best Christmas is not one where we “get” the most but one where we partake of the richness of it all. When the star over the stable seems to shine overhead and when we stop to listen….the angels sing. The best Christmas is friendship, family and faith…….and the best gift is being able to keep it in our hearts all year long.
As I write my cards this year a prayer goes along with each……that peace and love and health prevail…..and all will touch beyond my reach………
Until next time,
Essentially Esther
