I haven't been on very many vacations so I'm not really sure which my favorite is. I think the only place I've really been is Tennessee. I've been there a few times, enough to know my way kinda around Clarksville. There are a lot of good memories there and it's where I got to grow close to my sister and get to know my silly, wonderful nieces (and nephew). It's also where I ran my first 5k!
Now, on to Christmas! It was kinda really depressing at our family Christmas party tonight! None of my siblings got to come home, my Papa is in the hospital, and Granny spent the night with him there. It was rough. I've never had a Christmas without at least one of my brothers or sisters. Ever. Tomorrow (today) will be interesting without them here. It was also really really depressing to not have Granny. Christmas Eve is her birthday and we always celebrate her birthday during the Christmas program we do. Most of the family didn't show up to the party either so it was kinda sad. It just doesn't feel like Christmas to me. Plus it's not very cold, so that doesn't help.
Even though Granny wasn't there, we still kept up the tradition and read Grandpa Told Me. This poem has been in our family for over 100 years! My Gran Gran (great grandmother) memorized it when she was 3 years old as her sister, who was exactly three years older, was trying to learn it for school. Ever since that Christmas, it has been told to my family every year on Christmas Eve. It made me sad to read it without Granny there, but I'm glad we still kept it going.
Grandpa Told Me
Grandpa told me all about the old time Christmases he had
When he was but six or eight, just a teeny weeny lad.
Said they didn't have much candy nor not very many toys
but I'll bet he had a good time with those little girls and boys.
Christmas Eve he'd hang his stocking by the old time chimney place,
then he'd scamper up the stairway, crawl in bed and hide his face.
For he knew ole Santa wouldn't bring his reindeer o'er the snow
if a little boy could see him, everybody told him so.
Then next morning how he'd hurry down to see the things he had,
Things Santa Claus had brought him just to make a wee boy glad.
In those days, Santa didn't carry in his shoulder pack
Nice toys like my little train that runs along a little track.
Maybe there'd be a little sheep on wheels painted white
or a little tin bank that would hold his pennies tight.
Or a little pair of mittens, a pretty new pair, too,
That would keep him warm and cozy while the winds of winter blew.
Then they'd have the family dinner, all the relatives would meet.
Uncles, aunts, and lots of cousins with such good things there to eat.
In the evening there were walnuts, hickory nuts and apples red.
Then the kids would wrap up warm and slide down hill on Grandpa's sled.
Then there was the old melodeon that was played by Auntie Sue.
Little pedals worked the bellows that were old and leaky, too.
"Shall We Gather at the River" they would sing and "Happy Day".
Then they'd bow their heads in silence while my Grandpa's pa would pray.
Then he'd get the children 'round him, so all of them could hear.
Then he'd tell of Jesus' birthday that we celebrate each year,
Tell the story of the wise men and the star that led them on,
How they found him in a manger, God's own well Beloved Son.
Oh, how Grandpa's eyes would sparkle as he told of long ago,
when his hair was curly golden, though it's now as white as snow.
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