Christmas Story 2023

The Day Before Christmas (Traditions)                                        Christmas Story 2023

By Gregory Jenkins

8:00 a.m. – The Kramer’s

  Alverta placed on the kitchen table four bowls, stacked, in the middle, along with four spoons that scattered as she tossed them.  She turned to the cabinet next to the sink, removed four plastic glasses and turned to toward the refrigerator.  She tucked the glasses underneath her arm and yanked the refrigerator door open with the other hand and then reached in to grab the half full jug of milk.  As she turned back toward the table, the door silently closed behind her.  She set the items next to the spoons and bowls and took a deep breath.  She is still wearing her warm, light blue cotton robe over her bright pink flannel pajamas and light gray wool socks on her feet.  She reached up and untied her blond hair from the knotted ponytail she had tied when she first got out of bed and simply let it drop to her shoulders.  She listened to her still, quiet house.  She drummed her fingers on the table, pointer to pinky, pinky to pointer, and listened.  The quiet thump of water being shut off put a smile on her face and at that same time she heard the dull humming of the garage door opening.  She turned back toward the sink and walked to the coffeemaker on the counter to refill the two coffee cups next to it.  She carried them as she heard the door squeak open that connected the garage to the mudroom and sat down at the table.  Her husband suddenly appeared from the hallway hauling two plastic bags filled with groceries.  She smiled.

  “Hi hon, it’s crazy out there.  I hope I got everything we forgot yesterday because I do not want to go in there again,” he said as he banged the two bags on the counter.

  “If you got everything on the list, we can make it work, Freddy,” she sipped her coffee and patted the chair beside her.  “Sit and listen.”

  Fred slipped his jacket off and slipped it on the back of the chair and then sat in it.  He looked at his wife and started to speak but she placed a finger over his mouth and pointed up.  He then understood, pulled his cup toward him and smiled at her. 

  Above them, they heard footsteps slowly fade toward the front of the house and another set, a little quicker than the first, scamper over their heads.  A sudden whir of a hair dryer whistled to life from the front of the house and a sudden flush rose and fell.  After a few minutes, the scampering of feet headed toward the front of the house.  A little scream followed, a door slammed, a giggle followed, and the footsteps jumped down the stairway.  A pajama clad boy of ten entered the kitchen smiling.

  “So Michael,” his father smiled at him. “You got her?”

  “Yep,” Michael replied as he sat across from them.

  “And was she dressed?” his mother asked.

  “Well, she had a towel on until I…”

  “I don’t want to know,” his mother smiled.  “Grab a bowl and your cereal.  I will pour your milk.”

  “What do you think Santa will bring you tomorrow, gifts or a lump of coal?” Fred asked him.

  From the hallway, a voice said, “Gifts!”

  “Good morning honey,” Alverta said to Susan as she entered the kitchen.

  “I was asking him,” Fred said to her sipping from his coffee.

  “I was answering for him,” Susan kissed her brother on top of his head.  She looked at the counter.  “I see she had a list, Dad.  I am so sorry.”  She walked to him and hugged his head in sympathy.  “She swore she had everything last night.”

  “Oh shush,” Alverta said.  “Will you turn the oven on to 350 and come and eat?  We have to set a plan of attack.”

  “For baking cookies?” Michael exclaimed.

  Larry sighed and shook his head while Susan laughed as she headed toward the table from the oven.

10:00 a.m. – The O’Neil’s

  “Martin, start bringing the stuff to the car.  I’ll go and open the hatchback!” Samantha yelled into her home from the front door.  She picked up the large clear plastic tub that was filled with brightly wrapped gifts and trudged down the pathway to the driveway.  She set the tub down and as she retrieved her keys to the car from her pocket.  Just then, her twelve year-old son bolted from the front door.  He was dragging two carry-on suitcases by their handles.

  “Slow down big boy,” she laughed.  “We still got a long drive ahead of us you know.”

  “It’s not that long, Mom.  Here, give me the keys and I will load this stuff and you start bringing out the food.”  Martin held out his hands.  She dropped the keys into his hands and turned back toward the house.

  Samantha left the front door open and walked down the entryway hall that opened into the kitchen.  On the kitchen table were five more plastic containers of vegetables, a Christmas dip she made, a potato salad she made, and a gallon of sweet tea.  Below the table was an ice chest with the bottom filled with ice and she carefully packed it with the items from the table.  She heard the front door slam and she turned to face her son.

  “I think I got everything, do you?”

  “I think so,” he answered her.  “Oh, let me grab my tablet!”

  As he scampered away, she yelled after him.  “Grab some extra phone chargers, too!

I’ll wait for you here!”  She walked to the fridge and checked to make sure she did get everything.  She grabbed two bottles of water and let the door close as Martin walked into the room.

  “Grab that handle on the cooler and I’ll get the other.”  The two of them bent down and picked it up and started to walk toward the front door.  As they reached the door, Sam said, “Put it down and let’s go into the living room by the tree.  Turn on the switch and come sit by me on the couch.”

  Martin turned the switch and the Christmas tree centered in the middle of the front window came to life.  The multi-colored lights twinkled and sparkled off of the tinsel that had been carefully placed on the branches.  The treetop star slowly rotated.  He sat by his Mom and laughed.

  “What?”

  “That star!  We are the only people I know that has one like it.”

  “Yeah, I know,”  she took his hand in hers and together that looked at it.  “We could stay home this year if you want,” she offered.”

  “No Mom.  I look forward to doing this every year.  It’s our Christmas Eve adventure when we go to your hometown of Candlelight to see Gramma and Papa for Christmas Day.  Remember last year and that snowstorm we drove in.”

  “You mean that I drove in and it took us three hours in a normal forty-five minute trip,” she laughed.

  “But not because of the snow, Mom, it was because we helped push those cars back on the road.”

  “You were a big help, too.”

  “The best part though is how happy Gramma and Papa are to have us.  Gramma loves cooking the Christmas Day meal.”

  “That’s why we bring the Christmas Eve meal because we have a lot of stuff to do today, “Sam added. “We got cooking and the Christmas Eve candlelight service at church.  Then there’s carol singing and all that feel good stuff, too.”

 “All that and Santa finds us anywhere.  So let’s not talk about it and get on the road.”

  Together they rose from the couch and walked to the front door.  Martin reached to switch off the tree when Sam said, “No, Martin let’s leave it on.  The best part about our Christmas Eve adventure is when we come back home.”

  Martin nodded and, together, they reached down, picked up the cooler and left their home.     

2:00 p.m. – The Graham’s

  They were standing in a long line that snaked through the aisles of the Bass Pro Shop.  To Chuck, it seemed like thousands of children were running and screaming all around him, all in tune to the Christmas music that filled the very air he was breathing.  His two boys, Fred and Charlie were among them and it was for them, they were standing in this horrible line.  He looked at his wife, Linda, who was laughing and holding her phone in front of her as she followed the paths of their children.  She was clad in a green elf costume complete with the hat that hung to the right and topped with a gold bell.  His two children were running around in their one piece fuzzy pajamas.  They were wearing tennis shoes over their footies so they wouldn’t get too dirty, according to Linda.  He himself consented to wear his red furry hat, trimmed with the white band all around the bottom of it.  He liked his hat a lot as it had ear flaps that he could pull down over his ears when it was too cold.  He liked all the Christmas time activities except when they did this – stand in line all day for the kids to have their picture taken with Santa.  The line moved and they followed as it turned around the final aisle so that at the end of it, he could actually see Santa.  He felt a tug at his sleeve, and he looked down to see that a blond, blue eyed little girl was staring up at him.

  “Hi,” he said to her.

  She smiled at him and asked, “Are you Santa?”

  “No, dear,” he said, and he pointed to the man dressed in red at the end of the aisle. “But he could be.”

  A man walked up to them and smiled, “Sorry she bothered you.  C’mon Sara, let’s go back to Mommy.”

  “Merry Christmas,” Chuck said to him.

  “See,” Linda said to him. “I knew you didn’t turn into Mr. Grinch. Smile.”  Her phone was shoved in his face.  He complied.  “You do look like Santa with that fluffy white beard and that white, white hair.”

  “Stop it,” he fussed at her as the line moved up again.  “Tell me again why we do this year after year.  Fred!  Charlie!  Stay close now!”

  “We have done this every year since Charlie’s first birthday, an actual Santa picture on Christmas Eve,”  Linda said as she slid her arm into his.

  “But it seems much more chaotic than that first one.”

  “Nope.  It was the same then as it is now as it will be next year.”

  The line moved again, and they stood two families away from the great man.

  “But it’s so noisy.”

  “Yeah, isn’t it great,” Linda released herself from Chuck and turned toward her boys.  “Boys get over here.  Chuck, hold my phone, I got to get my comb out of my bag.  Okay, Charlie, stand still, that’s it.  Ah, you look good.  Fred, your turn, ah, perfect.  Now stay with us, we are almost there.”

  The line moved and suddenly they were next.  The boys suddenly got still, and Chuck leaned down and said to them, “Now you know what you are going to ask him, right?  Okay.  Now don’t forget to say Merry Christmas.”

  Linda had slipped away and was talking to the elf standing with the elf taking pictures and ordered the set of pictures they wanted and reached into her bag to pull out her wallet.

  “All right,” another elf stepped up to Chuck and the two boys,  “You guys are next.  My name is Herman, what’s yours?”

  “I’m Fred and he’s Charlie.”

  “I’m Charlie.”

  “Well, nice to meet you Fred and Charlie.  I am going to introduce you to Santa and then I will put one of you on one side of him and the other on the other side to take your picture first and then, and only then, you can tell him what you want for Christmas.  Sound good.  Let’s go!”

  Linda had returned to Chuck and he placed his arm around her as she held up her phone to take a picture.

  “Why are you taking a picture when we are paying for a picture?” he asked her.

  “In case I don’t like it.”

6:00 p.m. – The Stevens’

  Chris turned into the parking lot of the Jefferson City Methodist Church and turned the car toward the front of the building.

  “Drop us off in front and then go park,” his wife Cheryl instructed.

  “Are you nervous?” he asked.

  “No, I’m not.  It’s not my first solo you know,” she said to him.

  “I meant the twins,” he looked at his rear view mirror to catch a glance at the two ten year-olds staring back at him.  “You have practiced and practiced.  You two will be awesome.”

  “You will sit near the front where I can see you, right Dad?”

  “Yes, Jennifer.  I will be in our usual spot and I will see you just fine.”

  “So you aren’t worried about my solo, huh?” Cheryl tried to get their daughter not to dwell on her nervousness.

  “Ugh!,” Jillian spoke up.  “Let’s go!  We are going to be late!”

  A few minutes later Chris was alone in the car.  He proceeded to a parking space.  It was early yet and there was a number of cars already parked but he knew in the next hour it will be packed.  He glanced at the building.  It was the church that they joined when they first moved to Jefferson City.  It reminded him of the one he went to in his hometown of Candlelight.  It was a two story building with a tall steeple standing on one end of it.  A series of seven windows on each story faced him and the ones on the top floor shone with the warm glow of softened light.  He smiled and opened the door and the dome light in his car lit with a brightness that shattered the blackness of the night.

  He shut the door and walked toward the door of the church.  Am older couple emerged from another car that parked in a front row spot.  He waved at the Simmons and waited for them to join him.

  “Merry Christmas Chris,” Carol Simmons said to him as she gave him a little hug.

  “I think you should join us in the choir,” Bill commented as he shook his hand.  “Everybody sings with us but you.”

  “Maybe I should,” Chris replied as he opened the church door for them.  “I am looking forward to hearing you tonight.”  The couple nodded and headed downstairs as he went upstairs to the Worship Center. 

  A few people were in the Welcome Center and he thought about joining them.  But instead, he turned to his right and stepped into the sanctuary.  The overhead lights were dimmed, and red battery powered candles within small wreathes were nestled in each window glowing with a soft light.  To his right on a knee high stand sat a basket of white similar white candles.  He reached down and took one.  A few families were already sitting sporadically within the pews around the room.  He walked down the center aisle and looked at the altar area.  The alter itself was pulled forward from its normal position so that two rows of red chairs could fit behind it.  Two white candles were placed at each end of it.  Two podiums stood on either side of it, the one on the left was the one the minister used to share his sermon.  A music stand stood in front of the altar and it seemed out of place.  A shiny golden cross was mounted on the wall behind the altar area and hanging overhead was an advent wreath of candles.  The four candles around the rim, three white and one pink were already lit and white one in the center waited to be lit.  The stage was set.

  Chris stopped at the second pew in front of the minister and sat down at the end.  In front of him, mounted on the wall, a monitor looked at him.  The screen had a picture of a cardinal standing on the branch of a snow covered pine branch. Scripted white letters spread across the top stating “Merry Christmas from JCUMC”.  A digital clock was counting down and it currently read 12:32.  He looked at his watch and it displayed 6:17.  The service was to start at 6:30.  He closed his eyes and listened.  A piano began to play softly, and he opened them to look to his right.  Annalyse, their pianist, was sitting at the piano and was focused on the music sheet in front of her.  He caught her eye and smiled.  She returned the smile with one of her own.  Chris reclosed his eyes, sat back and listened.  The sanctuary began to sound with people walking and sitting, talking and occasionally laughing.

  “Chris.”

  He opened his eyes to see Paul, one of the ushers standing next to him. “Do you have a program?”

  “No.  Thanks.  Merry Christmas, Paul and thanks.”

  He took the program and set it beside him on the seat.  To his left the Saunders’  family was seating themselves, filling the pew, and he smiled to them.  The lights overhead dimmed even more, and he sat up in anticipation.  A door behind the minister’s podium opened and the choir, adorned in red robes, entered and walked to the chairs behind the altar.  They all stood and waited until all were in their places.  The choir director, Bud Phillips, was the last of the choir to enter and he walked to the podium and placed his folder of music on it.  He motioned for the choir to sit and they did with a quiet rustling sound.  He walked to a seat behind the second lectern.  Pastor Paul Stone shut the door after he came in and walked behind the podium.

  “Good evening and welcome the Jefferson City United Methodist Church.  A few announcements before we begin our Candlelight Service.  The program only has the order of the hymns we are going to sing as well as the music the choir will share.  While it is not listed there will be a Bible reading, an offering collected, and, what I am calling a homily.  I didn’t have it printed because I wanted to surprise you.  Secondly, in a few minutes, Annalyse is going to play our prelude and our acolytes will come forward to light our altar candles.  When they are lit, please turn on your candles.  We will then sing our first hymn, “Away in the Manger”.  That being said, please rise for the playing of our prelude and lighting of our candles.”

  He rose and the first notes of the piano rose into the air and filled the room.  The choir, cloaked in red, was a perfect background as two children stepped down the aisle.  When the first candle was lit, he turned on his candle with a flick of a switch.  He looked around and it seemed the room was nothing but candles.  The overhead lights dimmed even more, and they were almost turned off.  The two acolytes descended from the altar area to sit in chairs placed in front of the first pew o each side of the church. 

  The first notes of “Away in the Manger” began to play.  He looked at his daughters as they stood in the first row of the choir directly in front of him and he smiled.  He caught his wife’s eye who was standing right behind them and nodded.  She smiled and nodded back.  Chris thought to himself how much he loved the Candlelight Service.

Merry Christmas everyone!  May whatever traditions you do, I hope they bring you joy and happiness all of 2024!

Greg Jenkins

Christmas 2023