People celebrate seasonal meals in different ways and at different times – for some, the special meal is Christmas dinner; for us, our big meal was Christmas Eve.
As a kid, it seemed like we always had others over at our house for dinner at this time of year. For a while, Marines shared our table.
Later, 2-3 members of the Oregon swim team stayed at our house and joined us for holiday meals (UH had a swim meet around Thanksgiving/ Christmas and we joined other local families in hosting members of the visiting teams.)
For us, in the early years, Christmas Eve dinner was pretty much like Thanksgiving dinner – turkey and the works; in later years we had roast beef.
I also remember my parents having a special “champagne” with dinner – Cold Duck (it had nothing to do with the swim team) – for them, it was a special wine for the special meal.
As a little kid, the approaching night was a difficult time to sleep – the anticipation, the expectation … the joy of the time. I don’t think I’ll sleep well tonight, either.
And, let’s not forget the reason for the season. Merry Christmas!!!
When we were little, my brother sang this song in a school program – since then, it has been my favorite Christmas song. Here is Willie K singing O Holy Night:
Mele Kalikimaka a me Hau’oli Makahiki Hou Peter. Mahalo piha for all work in providing history to all of us.
Merry Christmas, Peter!