2018 is in the books, and 2019 has opened. I won’t bore with another look back. I did that in a prior post. Looking forward is what one does on New Years Day. Or remember past New Years.

My wife and I celebrate our forty-fifth anniversary in a few days. Eighteen of those shared while I was on active duty. 

Celebrating New Years

We celebrated some memorable New Year’s Eves. Memorable in ways beyond the amaretto toast after the first kiss of the New Year. That is a topic for another post. On with this one.

It was 1983 and we were on the cusp of welcoming 1984. My family and I were stationed at the Naval Security Group Activity, Galeta Island, Panama. We lived in waterfront housing. We often watched the ships waiting to transit the Panama Canal from our windows. Our son was six and daughter was two years old.

A few friends joined together to celebrate ringing in the new year. My wife and I expected my son to crash before midnight, but he didn’t. He wasn’t the only child who stayed up.

Midnight arrived right on time, not a minute early or late, and we celebrated the New Year.

The Kids Celebrated

Suddenly, there was the loudest noise coming from the lawn between the water and the housing. We couldn’t stop laughing at my son and friends parading while banging on an assortment of pots and pans. The clamor defies words to describe it.

Last night as midnight approached, my wife questioned if my grandchildren who live next door would parade the neighborhood bangin on pots and pans. I couldn’t help laughing at the memory which stays with us.

No, they did not.

We were often sad at being away from family on the holidays but created memories that tempered the disappointment and last a lifetime.

Do you have a holiday memory to share using the comment form? I would love to hear it. God bless and give you a safe and happy new year!

Traditions — Christmas Day is upon us. Are you ready? For once we, my wife and I, are ready! We have the presents purchased and wrapped. They sit under the tree waiting for the package distributor to pick one and call out a name. If tradition holds, whoever the present is for will be offered help in opening it. Then comes the cries of “Show us what it is. Hold it up.” Cameras will flash and it will be time for the next one.

Our Christmases around the world

I was sitting here thinking how Christmas Day events have changed for my family over the years. My wife and I spent our first Christmas (1974) as a married couple in Keflavik, Iceland. The second was in Iceland also. Our third was in San Vito, Italy in an apartment above our Italian landlords. We were two and a half. My wife was pregnant.

My son joined us for the fourth and fifth (1977-1978) in San Vito. The sixth and seventh were in Pensacola, Florida. The Eighth (1981) was my daughter’s first as she grew us to a family of four.  The next two were in Coco Solo, Panama. We have been in Maryland for all of them since 1984.

Christmas traditions at our house

My wife and I bought a big artificial tree in Iceland and used it for forty years. It was always a challenge to find room in the government housing we lived in for the tree.  Some piece of furniture would hide in the bedroom or utility room while the tree decorated the space vacated.  Over several days before each Christmas, wrapped presents found their way under the tree. It was magic to the kids. It was late night wrapping that made the magic.

It became traditional for the kids to open one present on Christmas Eve. The rest waited for Christmas morning. Santa had to make a stop after all. Santa’s presents were the big items that required assembly. Santa’s helper had to pull tools and stay up late doing Santa’s work.  Christmas morning was hectic as the mounds of wrapping paper grew. The kids enjoyed their presents while we made dinner.

Today, the children are grown and have children of their own. They are creating their family traditions regarding Christmas *and other holidays*. Our traditions have changed to permit them to have theirs. We remember, in moments of nostalgia, past Christmases.

One of our traditions remains. Our smaller tree requires relegating a piece of furniture to another room. The tradition most missed is not being present when the sun comes up and watching the grandchildren discover what lies under their tree. We do get to watch them with the presents we bring with our visit.

Empty nesters, we accept the role of supporting cast ready for whatever role Santa needs filled. Has Christmas traditions changed for you? Use the comment to share your traditions.

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NaNoWriMo update

This shares an interesting Thanksgiving story. But first, an NaNoWriMo challenge update. Every day I am writing something towards the NaNoWriMo goal of 50,000 words in the month of November. I have completed fourteen days and I am ahead of schedule. I hope to finish by day 22 so I have Thanksgiving free. Today I passed 29k.

Smoked Turkey

Thanksgiving is next week. My wife and I were talking about the dinner this weekend. She asked to smoke a turkey which is something new for us. We have smoked chicken parts and found them delicious. A smoked turkey should be just as delicious. When we learned that a niece and family are coming to visit, we added an oven cooked turkey to the food list.

This started me thinking about past Thanksgivings we have shared. There have been 43 of them since we met. Our first Thanksgiving together was in Iceland. She had joined me in October and we lived in a Quonset hut outside the base. I don’t remember what we for dinner had but I know it was good. My wife is an exceptional cook.

Thanksgiving in Panama

We spent many Thanksgivings overseas in places like Iceland, Italy and Panama. The Thanksgiving that I will never forget occurred in Panama. Let me set the stage if you will. We lived in Pan Canal housing. The tropical housing routinely shown where you park cars under the house. ( Pictured above.) The command recreation center and mess hall (restaurant) was in a similar building near us. The wife was the command ombudsman.  She had many duties but one was to represent the command at commissary, exchange and public works meetings.

We bought our first Weber dome grill that summer. My wife found instructions for cooking a turkey on the grill. I don’t remember if I was happy or not with the prospect of keeping the grill fed with charcoal for the hours needed to grill a turkey. She prevailed. We would cook the turkey on the Weber. I fired up the grill and we put on the bird. Everyone else, including the mess hall, were cooking their birds in their electric ovens.

Dinner must wait? NO!!

It was about 2 pm when the power went out for the entire neighborhood. Turkeys sat in ovens partly cooked. My wife got frantic calls asking her to do something. Since she attended the public works meetings, they thought she might be able to get something done. They were right. She called the proper persons and soon trucks showed to work the problem. Hours later, power was restored. While others were cooking again, our grilled turkey was cooked and we had dined.  Some called it good luck, I called it good planning by my wife.

We have many interesting Thanksgiving but this is one that we relate when asked.  I would enjoy hearing about your favorite Thanksgiving memory. Use the comment form to tell me about it.

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