I'd have to say one Christmas in particular sticks out for me. My mom and us kids had moved in with my grandfather and a couple of Aunts when I was about 5ish. That was a lot of people in the house and my mom and I shared the pull out couch in the living room. Christmas Eve was always a special time at that house, different reasons for everyone, but for a 5 yr old, it meant after midnight mass we could open 1 gift before going to bed . I still can't figure out how Santa managed to set up my Barbie camper set right beside me and set out all the other gifts for the rest of the kids in the house without waking me up...I was sleeping directly opposite of the Christmas Tree! I still say he drugged me I also can't figure out how I managed to live that Christmas morning after I ran through the house at almost Lew O'clock waking everyone up and telling them what Santa left them
The one thing that has pretty much stayed constant over all the years is Boxing day. We used to gather at my Grandfathers house and visit, play and exchange gifts, the kids got to play Santa's helper, it was a fun time. As the years have passed and the family has grown, we have moved from my Grandfathers house (who is sadly no longer with us) and rent the church hall in the old neighborhood. We have been known to have almost 70 in attendance, and some things have changed, but we still gather, catch up and now we have a new generation of little ones running around having a blast helping to make new memories.
Maureen