Tradition is a vital part of Christmas in many families, mine included, but how much has Christmas changed throughout the changes in time, life, and place in a family’s history? I talked to my grandma about her Christmases as a child in a rural island in the 1930’s and 40’s and see how much of her traditional Christmas has survived to my Christmases today.
It struck me that aspects of a more traditional farming life impacted her childhood Christmases, for example, she recalls having a duck who she named Edgar; “Edgar was my duck and he was always following me around the farm. I left him at home when I went to boarding school and when I got back I found him strung up by the neck ready for Christmas dinner!” This seems a far cry from going to Waitrose for our Christmas dinner and shows how a move to a different place evokes a new lifestyle that can deem some traditions or features of her childhood Christmases impossible to keep up in London Suburbia.
“Because not many people on the island had a radio we would open the windows and doors so everyone could come in or hear our radio” she remembered; “Vera would play piano to the whole neighbourhood and we would all sing carols together”. This idea is reminiscent of a fabricated fairy tale or fable to me, telling the sort of “long forgotten” past, free of TV shows and x-box games to fight over. However, as much as it seems to be lacking compared to times like these, a sense of community is always there at Christmas time, bringing a feeling of shared Christmas spirit that truly makes this season a magical time. The image of my great aunt playing piano, however, is evocative as I think of how everyone sung carols around my guitar this year.
In my family, as with many other family’s alike, it is the dinner that really makes Christmas- my parents and grandmother alike all tell me how “It takes hours to make and is demolished in mere minutes!” This meal consists of recipes passed down through generations that are tweaked and evolve through the years. Christmas pudding- a firm favourite- has had its recipe passed down by my great great grandmother and my grandma remembers having it every Christmas she can remember. In fact, everyone in my family can recall saying “Go mbeirimíd go léir be oar an am sed arís” whilst stirring the pudding a few weeks before Christmas.
It seems that, through the years, change is inevitable; what with people moving, trends changing and the difference in our way of life, I can see how it would be impossible for me to have the same Christmas as my grandma did as a child. It is key traditions, however, and a sense of family that withstands the test of time. I know that things are still, and will still change but by keeping the true spirit of Christmas alive in my family, I know that we will always have a merry Christmas!
