One of the most memorable Christmases that I ever had was the year that we decided to ditch a planned trip to Disneyland and visit my family instead. We were living in Arizona, while my family lives in Washington State. That was the year that I left the Navy to be a stay-at-home mom. My husband hadn’t found a permanent job yet, although he had been doing a little temporary work. I really wanted to see my family, but we weren’t sure whether my husband’s temp agency was going to call him and offer him a job. While we had driven halfway between Phoenix and Disneyland, we decided to change our plans and visit my parents instead. It was one of the best Christmases ever.
A Change in Plans
As we drove to Disneyland, I was excited about seeing the Happiest Place on Earth at Christmastime again, but I was a little sad that we would once again be spending Christmas away from my parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins. My family used to have huge gatherings at Grandma’s house. We still do go to Grandma’s house for Christmas, but not everybody comes any more like they used to. While I love the Magic Kingdom, Disneyland seemed like a consolation prize that year. I had been living in Italy, and my 18-month old daughter had never spent Christmas in Washington with the entire family. When my husband suggested that we forget all our plans to go to Disneyland and go straight to Washington instead, I thought “why not?”
We were a couple of hours away from home; my daughter’s Christmas present, a stuffed unicorn from Build-A-Bear, was under our artificial tree. My parents’ presents to us had already been mailed and were also under our tree. For a second, we thought about driving back to go get them, but we decided to press on instead.
After we had driven for a little while longer, I had a funny feeling that I had left the roast that I had cooked the night before on our counter top. I shuddered to think about how nasty that thing would be when we returned if I had indeed left it out, and it sat on our counter for two weeks while we were gone. We decided to call our apartment complex and ask if they could check on it for us and put it back in the refrigerator. Fortunately, they agreed to help us out.
Grandma’s House
We called ahead to let my mom and dad know that we were coming. They were all happy to hear about our change in plans. Mom and Dad have a trailer that they use in the summer for camping, but we were all able to stay there during our visit. Since my husband didn’t have a permanent job, we were trying to save all the money that we could.
After I arrived at my mom’s, I called my apartment complex to make sure that everything had been taken care of with that roast. It turns out that yes, I had left that roast out on the counter, but they were able to put it in the fridge for me. With that worry out of the way, I was able to enjoy the holidays.
My First White Christmas
In the 18 years that I lived with my family as a kid, I had never experienced a white Christmas. One year, we drove up to the mountains and spent the afternoon on Christmas Eve sledding, and another year it snowed shortly after midnight on December 26th, but I had never experienced snow on Christmas day. This year, it actually snowed on Christmas. My daughter had never seen snow before, so it was a new experience.
I think that all of my relatives went to my Grandma’s house on Christmas Eve that year. My grandma had seven great-granddaughters, but not a great-grandson (a few years later, my little boy would break the streak of girls). They filled the house with squeals and laughter. Seeing all the family and all of those little girls made it one of the best Christmases ever. I was so glad that we decided to visit on the spur of the moment.
Several years have passed since that Christmas. I still try to visit my family in Washington for Christmas when I can, but sometimes finances prevent it. Fewer and fewer people go to my Grandma’s house on Christmas Eve; she’s getting older, and this year will probably be the last Christmas where everybody can get together like they used to. Life moves on; that’s why it’s so important to grab those Christmas memories while you can, even if you spontaneously change your plans to get them.