Turning Christmas Around

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For 59 years straight I went to church on Christmas Day. Not this year! Confident the service would be streamed, I turned on the iPad. When I couldn’t find it, I ran to ask David if he knew anything about it. He didn’t. I tried again, seeing the statement that the next service to be streamed would be on December 31. I was frustrated and very disappointed. I must have missed any mention of which services would be shown and recorded. As I sat there in despair, I noticed a text message had come in at 9:50. It was from next door neighbor D. She wrote, “Merry Christmas! Are you doing anything special?”

I replied, “Shawn, Bob, Logan, and Lisa are coming for dinner about 12:30. There is lots of food. Would you join us? Love to have you!”

Her reply turned the day around. Yes! She and Jeff would love to come. That gave me such a boost. I set the table for seven and began to prepare the vegetables. The Chicken and Stuffing casserole was in the refrigerator, ready to be cooked.

Here we are, having almost finished the main meal. D prefers not being photographed, so I cut her off. For the foodies, we had chicken casserole, baked potatoes and baked sweet potatoes (not having seven of either), broccoli with Hollandaise sauce, and fried apples. Shawn’s rolls were a lovely addition. For dessert we had the pound cake Shawn and Bob gave me for my birthday, as well as some Lebkuchen. D poured chocolate wine, her contribution to the meal, to go with dessert. That certainly hit the spot!

Lisa said beforehand that she would be very happy if she could watch the football game. At the table I asked her when the game would begin. “Six minutes ago,” she answered. She and Logan watched the game quietly on a phone, not intruding on the rest of us at all. I thought it was a brilliant solution. Everyone got what they wanted.

Unobtrusively, Kasey was working the table from below. I don’t feed the dog from the table, making her wait to lick a plate later. I don’t know what she garnered, but she was very happy. I was glad she had been indulged without breaking my personal rule. Her face showed up in this photo. What a happy dog! Bob took her out for a walk. He came in laughing, saying she ran in circles around him. He just held up his arm holding the leash as she raced around.

The party lasted long enough to be totally satisfying. We relaxed and visited in comfy chairs. Despite my objections, Shawn and D washed dishes and let me load the dishwasher. Everything was cleaned quickly. I’ll say as I’ve said before, I have the world’s best neighbors.

After everyone left I talked to son John $ and Rose, eating Chinese food in Washington. Grandson Nathaniel and Sarah chatted on the phone with me while they traveled from her mother’s home to her grandmother’s house. Daughter Lise was the last, doing Facetime and introducing me to her friend. Tanya (sp?) prepared American macaroni and cheese, a particular favorite of hers. Tanya also cooked the traditional Danish pork dinner and potatoes. The white potatoes are sweet! Lise said many Danes don’t do it as well as she did, and she comes from Nashville TN! She also served the traditional rice pudding, a dish much more elegant than the name implies.

It seemed everyone had a marvelous celebration. It was wonderful to be included in person and via tech assist. It was truly a merry Christmas for me.

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Published by Anne Mehrling

I'm a retiree who loves to write about life in the mountains of North Carolina.

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37 thoughts on “Turning Christmas Around”

  2. It sounds like a wonderful Christmas and everyone looks so happy, especially the dog. Our two dogs had a great time as well and enjoyed the turkey scraps. I swear they were both grinning from ear to ear.

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  4. So glad you had a nice time with family and friends around. I too had Christmas day with family,fun with my grandchildren and had a wonderful day. I’m glad it’s more or less over now though. The pressure is off. Have a Happy New Year. Hugs

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  8. Thank you for sharing. Im glad you had such a lovely day. Christmas and New Year’s greetings from the other side of the world, where the sun is shining and everyone is so happy.

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    1. I could have been content to be by myself on Christmas, but I’m glad the neighbors were here.

      I know you are in a different hemisphere, but I cannot imagine having Christmas in the summertime. Did it take you long to adjust to it?

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      1. Hi Anne it did take several years to adjust to Christmas in the summer. But we always enjoyed the Christmases we spent in the UK with families. Now we are completely sold on summer time festivities. My daughter was 6 when we came here, she’s 63 now. When we decorated the tree the first year she askrd in her little Scottish accent – Mummy when is it going to snow.

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  10. You have perfect neighbors – but I’ve told you that before many times – you are blessed. I wonder if the Christmas service is available on YouTube? I’ll bet it is for churchgoers who are out of town and still want to see the service.

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    1. If the service had been recorded, it would be available on the church Web site. I suspect the three services on Christmas Eve were streamed and recorded. Perhaps they felt not enough people would watch on Christmas Day to make it worthwhile.

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      1. That’s too bad since it is the first time you missed Christmas church services in so many years. We had horribly foggy weather here for Christmas Eve and Christmas morning, so I imagine many people here were grateful if streaming the service was available to them.

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  12. Thank you so sharing. Iam so glad. It’s sounds like a wonderful Christmas and everyone looks so 😊! HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO YOU, Anne ❤️🥳🧑‍🎄
    I wish you Coming New year going, healthy & wealthy!

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  16. What a lovely bunch of neighbors, and they obviously feel the same about you as a neighbor. Dinner sounds delicious. Most of the Christmases I remember as a child was with chicken and dressing. It was very nice for a mention of John $ also. Everytime I see that, I still recall what a cute baby he was from your England series. I hope you and the family all have a wonderful new year.

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      1. I can understand why. It is very enlightening, challenging, and fun to live in a place that is unlike any other. I truly did enjoy those posts and learning about it from your experiences.

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  18. Anne, the warmth of friendship and family shines through your photos and post at this very special time. I’m so happy you had a wonderful time and wish you light and hope for 2024. xx

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