Blogger: Janet Kobobel Grant
Location: Books & Such main office, Santa Rosa, Calif.
Christmas nostalgia goes beyond the toys we at Books & Such wrote about last week. Our memories often involve a place as well. This week, we’ll continue our personal posts by writing about some place that holds special Christmas remembrances for us.
For me, one place reigns supreme when it comes to holiday memories, and that’s the church our family attended when I was growing up. As you can see from the picture, it’s pure Americana–a white church with a steeple. But our congregation was made up of German immigrants and their descendants. Every other Sunday the service was conducted in German.
On Christmas Eve, it seemed the holiest and most glorious place to me. A towering (at least from my diminutive perspective) Christmas tree fairly glowed with lights and ornaments. Each window held a candle. The evening program consisted of us children delivering our memorized pieces and lifting our warbly voices in song. I recall one song we sang that contained the strange phrase, “Round yarn virgin.” Huh?
And I even recall one of my memorized pieces: “To say a lot I will not try, my Christmas greeting is just hi.” That brought a lot of oohs and ahs from the crowd. Of course, the congregation might also have been quite taken with my frilly dress and multiple stiff petticoats that made my dress so bouffant I couldn’t figure out a place to put my arms. When I chose to place them by my side, the dress pouffed out in front and back, making me look as if I were riding in a pale green canoe.
The church was a warm and cozy place to spend Christmas Eve, and I always felt close to God there as we celebrated Jesus’ birth, even if some of the finer points of the reason for the celebration, such as the words to the songs, were a little lost on me.
What place do you hold close to your heart when you think of Christmases past?
You guys keep bringing back some great memories!
Christmas Eve is synonymous with my church too. Candlelight service at 11pm was my favorite. I can recall sitting in the pew, in my pajamas, in the dark with the whole room lit up by individual candles while the congregation sings “Silent Night” and Mr. Peich’s voice bellowing out the words to his favorite song in German. My sister and I always found a spot near enough to hear him.
I will always remember looking at the big manger before going into my childhood church on Christmas Eve. Despite the cold, my sister and I would stare at it until our mother called us away. There was always something magical about that manger, and the entire Christmas Eve service.
Thanks for the post, Janet.
My mother played a record of George Beverly Shea singing at Christmas time … over and over and over again. I still think of that wonderful voice singing “The Birthday of a King” and “Go tell it on the Mountains” whenever those songs pop up on the radio or at church. At 103 he can still sing and the voice is still wonderful IMHO.
Sarah, come to think of it, we all lit candles at the end of our Christmas Eve service. I’d forgotten that part.
Isn’t it wonderful to recall our special Christmas moments, especially as we’re currently hustling around trying to create those moments for our family members.
Frohe Weihnachten!!
I am glad I can put my high school/college German to good use. When I went to Austria 16 years ago, the Austrians wanted me to speak English. Oh well.
The picture of your church reminds me of a church that we have in Bath, Ohio that I have visited on occassion.
I love this line:
When I chose to place them by my side, the dress pouffed out in front and back, making me look as if I were riding in a pale green canoe.
I’m loving these posts. Christmas is my favorite time of year, so these are right up my alley.
Church is definitely a special place for me too. The family always attended midnight mass at the Catholic church across the street. The nights it was snowing seemed to be the most magical. As I got older, I helped in setting up the nativity scene and in decorating the church for Christmas, much like I do now with our current little church.
Thanks for sharing your memories today.
Cheryl, your comment about snow reminded me of one especially magical Christmas Eve. Snow had been a no-show so far that winter, but when we came out of church, a thin blanket of the white stuff was settling on the ground, and the flakes were the big ones that drifting gently down. I was convinced the snow was a Christmas gift from God. It certainly was to me.
Thanks for this post, Janet, and all the posts in this series … This one really got me remembering those long-ago, magical Christmases. Good memories that I needed to “hear” again. Merry Christmas!