Remembrances of Christmases Past, Part Two

Hanging the oldest favorite ornaments on the tree when we were growing up. My sister, brother, and I now hang those same ornaments on our own Christmas trees.

Getting the Thumbelina doll that I asked for.

My dad crawling on the floor with a whistle trying to get my brother’s Tommy the Turtle toy to move very late one Christmas Eve.

The Honeymooners Christmas episode; my very favorite episode of all. And how I tear up every time Ralph says “someone you’re nuts about.” And watching the Honeymooners Marathon, just me and my husband, and our baby tucked in the crib, the year I had the flu; maybe my best New Year’s Eve ever.

Barbra Streisand singing The Lord’s Prayer and Jingle Bells. And Steve and Eydie singing Hurry Home for Christmas. And wondering why Jewish singers seem to make such great Christmas albums.

My Nana and my Korean Aunt Haruko giving each other the Sign of Peace while watching Midnight Mass from the Vatican in our living room.

The year my brother bought and assembled an entire doll house for our baby sister, Cristina.

Having struffoli and Court Pastry Christmas cookies for Christmas breakfast and my dad dunking his spoonful of struffoli in his coffee.

My mom’s magnificent fish salad which has now turned into my brother’s magnificent fish salad.

The smell and taste of chestnuts roasting outside of Radio City Music Hall.

Stockings with our names embroidered on them from A&S.

Watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas on on our new RCA color TV and how his heart “grew three sizes that day.”

Rearranging the pieces of my mom’s nativity set. Lining up the Three Wise Men in size order and positioning the lambs, the ox and the mule so that they could peek in on the Baby Jesus in the manger. The original Baby Jesus has been missing for quite a few years and he was replaced by another one which was half the size of his mother. Thankfully, my sister found one this year that was just the right size.

The tree hanging on the side of the building above Mazzola Bakery on the corner of Union and Henry. It’s hanging there right now.

The sweet melody of Tu Scende Dalle Stelle which my grandfather used to sing and which was sung at Midnight Mass every year at our beloved Cabrini Chapel.

How Cabrini Chapel did not have kneelers and while everyone else just sat at the edge of their pew, my humble father-in-law was not bothered in the least to kneel right on the floor during Midnight Mass.

How my dad would stay home to watch A Christmas Carol while we went to Midnight Mass.

Hanging Christmas cards up with tiny little clothespins.

Holding my four-day old nephew on Christmas Eve in 2003, what a Christmas present! My sister had a baby and she and my brother-in-law still had Christmas Eve, all in the same week.

When my littlest nephew told me he got me “a little something” at the Christmas sale in school.

How I moved twice in my life during the week of Christmas and still managed to put up a Christmas tree.

Buying and wrapping tickets to Annie for the whole family for Christmas after I got my first job after graduating college.

The year I got a housedress with a very apropos fish pattern for my mom from Frank’s Department Store.

The first Christmas Eve that my parents let me have a real glass of wine (not one mixed with Coke) and how tipsy I got.

Waiting for my Auntie Rie to get home from her job as a check processor for Citibank late in the evening every Christmas Eve.

Looking for a Christmas book that was out of print at the dearly missed Book Court just a few years ago and instead discovering a little treasure of a little book called Little Christmas by an author who had grown up just a block away from where I lived. And how that discovery turned into a wonderful friendship.

When a sterno lit a dish towel on fire in my aunt’s kitchen and how DK the dog started barking and saved us all one New Year’s Eve.

The struffoli bowl with cherries on it that that my little grandma had lined up with all the other tins of struffoli surrounding the statue of St. Jude on her dresser. My mom “hid” our struffoli on top of a bookcase in the foyer.

Frying baccala with my mom and now with my niece, Amanda.

How we ate so much of the Feast of the Seven Fishes leftovers on Christmas Day that we were often too full for Christmas Day lasagna.

My sister Lisa’s spectacular Christmas cookies and how she always gave us copies of every new recipe added to her repertoire: seven-layers, anginettes, snickerdoodles, seeded regina, pignoli, to name a few. My sister Cristina makes them still.

The angel that my beautiful Hassidic friend Sara gave me about twenty years ago. It has a place of honor perched atop my nativity.

My kids’ Christmas pictures, the ones they made in Mrs. Cavicchio’s class at PS 58, decorated with glitter and macaroni, and how they still hang on my tree.

The year I sliced my finger while cutting crosses on the chestnuts on Christmas Day and my Chinese Uncle Sam fixed my finger right up and then fixed my cabinet door, too. Such a good man!

The year they stole Baby Jesus from the outdoor manger outside of Sacred Hearts/St. Stephen Church.

The yearly Christmas jaunt that my dearest friend Laureen and I make each year, starting with the windows at Macy’s, working our way up Fifth Avenue and ending with lighting candles and viewing the nativity at St. Patrick’s.

The big wrapped up box we used as a mailbox for Christmas cards in our classroom at Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary School.

The annual Christmas show at SHJM featuring Mr. Politi and his Dixieland Band and how the center seat in the first aisle was always reserved for Father Delvecchio.

The year my friend Leo came up to our house at 222 DeGraw Street, top floor, and played song after song on his accordion. My parents were thrilled.

Attending the blessing of the glorious presepio at Guido Funeral Home the first year that my husband was asked to participate in reading the Christmas story.

Driving my mom home from my sister’s in New Jersey every Christmas Eve, and seeing the star shining on the steeple high above Sacred Hearts/St. Stephen.

How my kids still sleep in their old beds on Christmas Eve and wake up early to open up gifts while listening to Christmas music before we all go to church together.

Walking into my temporary job at St. Mary Star of the Sea just this year on the Monday after Thanksgiving and finding that Father Cashman had decorated the whole rectory including jingle bells hanging from the ceiling, two nativity scenes, lights and stockings in the kitchen (one for Maddy the dog) and an old-fashioned ceramic Christmas tree just like the one my mom and aunt had.

Once again, I am sharing a very long list of memories that could very well go on and on. As soon as I think I’ve remembered them all, something else pops into my head. I wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and I wish you lots of happy memories, too. And all the best to all of you in 2020!