'Twas The Night Before

CHRISTMAS EVE STIRRED WITH EXCITEMENT

Fay Lavigne

Christmas Eve 1957. I was 10 and trying to sit still on my grandmother’s green mohair couch. The back of my dress was scrunched up behind me and the rough upholstery scratched my bare legs. My sister, Jane, 12, and younger brother, John, needed no reminders to sit still and wait for dinner. I hated that couch (or divan, as my mother called it).

My Aunt Betty and Uncle Bill, who lived next door, were there with their four children, Billy Jo, Timmy, Dick and little sister Terry. We lived just down the hill and we were very close to our cousins.

Grandma Ennis was one of my favorites. At 5 feet 6 inches, with snow white hair, she was always easy to find. That night she wore a lovely apron with a Christmas motif she had designed herself. She made this holiday perfect, and we waited for it all year.

A 4-foot Christmas tree adorned with hand blown glass ornaments, bubble lights and tinsel sat on Grandma’s TV. Grandma liked to decorate it herself to surprise us when we arrived. Every year the tree had the same decorations, but we always acted surprised.