There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays

On Monday we got our Christmas tree. After wandering through the selections, we chose an eight foot Fraser fir. Josiah, who worked last week at the tree store, baled it for us and we brought it home. We decorated it that night. It took us several hours, as it always does, as we unraveled strings of lights and related the stories of the origins of the various ornaments. It looked good when we were done. I love the smell of the pine in the house. It adds so much to the Christmas ambiance having the tree up.

Decorating the Christmas tree.

The Christmas tree.

The rest of the week seemed to drag as we anticipated the weekend ahead. Finally it was Friday and it was time for our Early Christmas with the Thayns. The Thayns arrived soon after Miriam and I got home from school and just before Stacey, Hannah, and Josiah got home from work. The energy and excitement level jumped to maximum level immediately.

Friday evening was our branch Christmas dinner. It turned out to be a nice affair. We are a small branch, but we managed to fill all the tables. There was plenty of good food. After dinner we had a gift raffle, read some Christmas stories, sang some carols, cleaned up, and came home.

At the branch Christmas dinner.

The weekend has been one game after another, almost continual cooking, and several fun activities. Saturday morning was spent making little gingerbread houses.

Games, all sorts.

Making gingerbread houses.

We ate our early Christmas dinner at 2:00. We had the traditional feast of ham, funeral potatoes, squash, salad, and zesty carrots. All of it was so delicious.

Early Christmas dinner.

After dinner, it was time to open presents. When my children were small, one of the things I loved most was watching their excitement as they opened presents. Now that they’re older, they still get excited, but it’s a bit more subdued. Now it’s my grandchildren’s turn, and boy do they get excited! There was lots of squealing and screaming as they opened gifts. There were lots of nice gifts. The rest of the day was spent playing with new toys – the children and adults.

Ready to open presents.

Opening presents.

Yesterday was Saturday, December the 15th, a special day for me. It was the 39th anniversary of my arrival home from my mission in Japan in 1979. The 15th of December was a Saturday that year too. To commemorate the day, I went back and read my journal entries for that day and the days just preceding it. I was living in Okamachi, an area in Osaka near the Airport. I was with three other elders, my companion Elder Tanaka, and Elders Tingey and Shirley, the zone leaders. I was sick with a racking cough that was at least bronchitis or maybe even pneumonia. I had lost weight and was down to 150 pounds (not a good weight when you are 6' 3"). I was actually scheduled to go home in January’s transfer, but as my health grew worse, I wondered if I could make it that long without coughing up a lung. Wednesday, the 12th of December, was our preparation day. Our apartment, which was only heated by a small kerosene stove, was very cold that morning. All four missionaries were huddled under blankets in our futons writing letters home. We were taking turns singing Christmas carols and songs by request. It was my turn to sing. I had a good voice back then and it was a bit difficult for me with my bad cough, but I really needed to sing. Elder Shirley requested that I sing “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.” When I finished singing, the other elders were quiet for a moment. Elder Tingey asked me to sing it again, but just then the telephone rang. It was the mission president and he wanted to talk to me. He asked me if Christmas was an important holiday for my family. I told him it was. He said that he needed a traveling companion for an elder going home to California in the transfer that was about to take place. He said he was inspired to ask me. If I accepted his offer, I would be home before Christmas. I only hesitated a moment before saying yes. That Saturday, after taking the train to the mission offices in Kobe and having my final interview with the president, I boarded an airplane at Osaka International Airport at 4:00 P.M. Sick as I was, I didn’t sleep much on the flight over the Pacific Ocean, I was too excited. Twelve hours later, I landed at Los Angeles International Airport at 9:00 A.M. on Saturday morning (there is a 17 hour time difference, plus we crossed the International Date Line), and found my family waiting there for me. That was a joyous Christmas for me. When I think back on the best Christmases of my life, I rank that one near the top. I don’t remember any presents. I just remember that I was home with my family and that was all that mattered.

Our early Christmas is winding down now. We’re home from church now and waiting to eat dinner. After dinner the Thayns are leaving for home. The house will be very quiet then. We still have our Second Christmas ahead of us. It will be a quieter celebration with just Miriam, Hannah, and Josiah here with us, but there will still be a lot of excitement (of a more subdued, adult nature), and laughter, and more good food.