Advent Calendar | Holiday Parties

I grew up in a fairly strict religion—no drinking, no smoking, no dancing. My parents weren’t raised in that religion, they came to it a bit later in life so they’d known (and enjoyed) life without restrictions. My strict grandmother, who practiced a different religion, seemed to have plenty of “no” rules herself.

But once a year at my aunt and uncle’s Christmas party, everyone’s rules went out the window. Aunt Bette and Uncle Jim practiced no religion. There were no rules! At least that’s how it seemed to me as a completely sheltered kid.

We could hear the party all the way down the street where we’d have to park due to all the partygoer’s cars. As we walked in the front door, we’d be immediately enveloped in a thick cloud of cigarette smoke. Everyone was laughing, talking loudly and smoking. Aunts, uncles, cousins, distant relatives and total strangers—it seemed the whole world was there.

We’d make our way to the kitchen where my aunt would be serving up Tom & Jerrys from a huge punchbowl. This was the real star of the party. This Tom & Jerry seemed to have no relation whatsoever to the cartoon mice I knew. This Tom & Jerry had my stern grandmother laughing and telling jokes. This Tom & Jerry had my parents saying, “Well, alright, just one.” I liked this Tom & Jerry.

With my parents happily distracted, I’d head to the family room where my older cousins had taken charge of the hi-fi. They’d put on a Doors record and that would last a couple songs until Uncle Jim would come in and put the Johnny Mathis Christmas album back on. As the evening wore on, we’d eventually end up listening to Bill Cosby’s Why is There Air? Oh, how I’d laugh at the toothache sketch. I didn’t get all the jokes, but I got the joy.

Every holiday season, my mom and aunt spent days making candy for the whole family—with several batches set aside for the Christmas party. There was fudge and divinity galore. And though I wasn’t allowed to partake of the Tom & Jerry festivities, I could go wild on the candy front. I imagine part of my joyful wonderment was from this annual sugar high.

I don’t remember how any of these parties ended. I’d always fall asleep on my aunt and uncle’s bed and was carried to the car late, late at night, only to awaken in my own bed the next morning with memories of wildly exciting world so different from mine.

The Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories (ACCM) allows you to share your family’s holiday history 24 different ways during 24 days in December! Learn more at http://adventcalendar.geneabloggers.com.