Jamie Carney
English Composition I Sabintino Magnini So This is Christmas My Christmases as a child goes as follows; As we turn onto the retired community of twin homes we see Babcia and Pop-pop standing on the sidewalk in front of their house. Before we even make it to the driveway my younger brother and I’s grandparents come up to the side window. “Merry Christmas Carney family!” They shout, and continue to sing “We wish you a merry Christmas” completely off key. My father tries and fails to temporarily shoo them off as we try go to park in the driveway. The old timers continue to ramble on as they usher us out of the car and into their large twin home that would make the pope shed a tear. In the foyer alone was crosses, figurines, paintings, quotes, a decorative rug featuring saints and angels. As we are enveloped by the much needed warmth from the winter air some Frank Sinatra Christmas tune can be heard from the dining room. We are greeted a second time with enough hugs and kisses to kill a horse followed by more singing and rambling. All the while one of the three the cuckoo clocks go off on the wall beside the entrance, The perfect symbol for my grandparents crazy character. Despite my grandparents house being where the majority of our Christmas was spent, it was just one of the stops we made on Christmas. My brother and I were always spoiled on this holiday as we essentially had four Christmases: On Christmas eve we went to our Aunt's Christmas party and got a present, on Christmas morning we woke up at our moms and opened our presents. After having our fill of the presents from our mother and grandmother we were off to our dads to receive more, and finally we were off to Babcia's house to receive even more presents from them. Obviously, one can already see why this is my favorite holiday. Still, I did not have a metric crap ton of presents. My father and grandparents were sensible enough though to split our presents between them; One big present from our father (not including candy and stocking stuffers), and two or three small presents from Babcia and Pop pop. I loved sitting under that freaky white tree and opening gifts while my family watched. I specifically remember one year where Babcia and Pop-pop gave me what was probably my favorite Christmas presents ever. One time I remember I found a round gift haphazardly wrapped in red foil under the albino tree with my name on it. At first I thought it was a soccer ball or something of that nature, however upon further inspection I found there was a large round hole at the top. If memory serves, Inside were about one hundred mini medieval soldiers. Fifty of the soldiers wore black and the other fifty wore red. There was a swordsman, a guy on a horse with a spear, archers, a soldier holding a mace catapults two kings and two towers-- All perfect victims for my red toy dragon sitting at home; the villains always prevailed in my games as a child. For the first time since I became a tom-boy, I almost shrieked. My brother and I played until our three cousins arrived and moved the operation to down to the basement where the playroom was located. Jojo was the oldest and really mature for her young age, however that opinion was only held by me. The second youngest is and most rambunctious was Malery. She was three or four years younger than her sister and admittedly could have used a riddlin once and awhile. Last but not least was Stephen, the two year old I had only ever seen twice. Though we only saw each other once a year, there was no awkwardness between us and we immediately began playing and talking as if we saw each other everyday. There wasn't much for us to do so we mostly played with legos, dominos, and played role playing games. Meanwhile the adults talked over coffee and prepared dinner. Despite all the fun we had as children in our own little romper room, dinner was undeniably the main event. The time where the adult and children's party merged together to enjoy the remainder of the holiday as a family. Every year a buffet fit for a king lay on the long dining room table. Turkey, pork, steak, and Bobcia’s famous mash potatoes, are simply a few of the items made for the Carney and Bevelacqua families to enjoy. Considering that there were ten people however, Babcia and pop-pop certainly made sure that everyone had their fill. We all talked and while we stuffed our faces with food. Personally, the desert that followed was always my favorite. The final course was a Christmas birthday cake . My Bobica and Pop pop are very religious people, so in order to keep Christ in Christmas, they made him a cake. Most years it was a round Vanilla cake with butterscotch icing and only occasionally was it chocolate with Vanilla icing. Each year, came with a different design or look making the words “Happy Birthday Jesus” on the top of the cake the only consistency. Us children were able to have two pieces each since the adults seldom had any cake. While enjoying my cake and cups of coffee I had the privilege of listening to my grandparents overly cheesy fart jokes and stories. However they also gave us some insightful words and meaningful chats, at least what I thought was meaningful at that age, looking back on it now it seems like random old timer rants but honestly they could have said literally anything and I would have thought it was the most intelligent thing I had ever heard. something our parents seldom did with us. After the holy cake we were to spend the rest of the evening listening to Pop -pop play the piano. It was at this time that Mallory and Jojo would dance and sing along with the music. Being small children most of their dancing was playful and silly causing the room to erupt in laughter. My father soon joined in on the acoustic guitar if not finding a way to take over completely. It would take long though for Pop-pop to grab a guitar himself and have a musical battle. When the music and dancing stopped we prepared to make our exit with the usual hugs and kisses goodbye our Grandparents could not let us leave without giving us one of their signature marble-balls. Each year they had a different marble-like design with different sizes. It seemed a little strange to have another gift after presents have already been revealed or why they had so many to hand to us in the first place. Yet every time we came over the family received these interesting little marbles of unknown origin. We ushered out the door with enough hugs and kisses to choke a horse. Our loving grandparents tredge out into the cold with us and walk us to our car they continue to talk to us as we pull our and scream goodbye as we drive way. As we were walking out the door, the cuckoo clock sung on the wall. Another quirky yet lovable Christmas evening with Babcia and Pop-pop. About eight years ago, My grandparents moved to from there home of Pennsylvania to Florida. Though they are not deceased it is more than likely that I won't see them in person again, and I certainly will never spend another holiday with them again. My insane father has had a lifetime hate for them, despite all the holidays and good times we had there, that I am sure the poor souls aren't even aware of. We went down to visit them once and my father assured my brother and I that we will never visit again. The only one who was miserable the entire time was my father and honestly there was no reason for it. Of course this also means I won't be seeing my cousins anytime soon, in fact they don't contact our grandparents anymore; they simply disappeared into obscurity. I do not blame them for moving. Due to Bobcia’s arthritis she could not stay in the cold and changing climate and still be able to move. However Babcia and Pop were an influence on our lives; They helped raise us after my mother and father got divorced and they helped my father in financial hardship. They came over at least once a month bearing a box of knew Dr. Seuss, coloring books, and good happiness into a gloomy home. Though the holidays were when I spent the most time with them this hiraeth is not about the holidays but about the family that I grew up with. Not a day goes by that I don't miss them. Despite the odds, I hope to be able to see them once more in my lifetime.
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May 2017
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