Christmas Eve served as our family Christmas. The six of us spent the morning unwrapping presents aided in no small way by Kaitlin and Jon’s beast of a dog—Jackson, who delighted in ripping to shreds all of the discarded wrapping paper. Meanwhile, Patrick and Sarah’s pup—Frisco, spent most of the morning trying to wedge himself between his people on a loveseat designed for only two humans. Lucy, as the eldest and only female, was having none of the nonsense and quickly retreated upstairs to the serenity of her own company. We all took a break around 11:00 for breakfast, a special Dunnevant family tradition consisting of bacon, scrambled eggs and orange-glazed cinnamon rolls. Off to the side is a fruit cup, the one unenthusiastic concession to proper nutrition. After the feast we reassembled in the family room to find out what Santa left us in our stockings. It turns out that all six of us wound up on the “nice list” which was probably a clerical error by the old guy’s back office, but no harm, no foul. We spent the afternoon enjoying each other’s company, then headed over to my sister Paula’s house for her Christmas Eve dinner—steaks, smashed potatoes and homemade rolls— and a new tradition, sticky toffee pudding! Then we headed over to Hope Church for the last of their 9 Christmas Eve services. It was delightful and a wonderful ending to a nearly perfect day.
Christmas Day started with cooking and ended with turkey sandwiches. In between was the Dunnevant family Christmas celebration at my sister Linda’s house. There was a sit down meal for 25 at tables in two different rooms. The food was amazing, the fellowship inspired. Then…it was time for that time-honored staple of American life during the holidays—the family photograph. The job of getting 25 members of any family properly posed for a portrait is fraught with peril, but getting the Dunnevant tribe organized for a picture requires a combination of patience and forebearance seldom seen during Christmas. Predictably, this photograph took over twenty minutes to stage, and was filled with anxious moments. The thankless job of taking this keepsake fell to Matthew Hawkins, husband of my niece Jenny and father of two, who’s attention to detail is impeccable..
Matthew: Ok, Becky..could you scootch over to your left three and a half inches? And Jon, could you lean forward until that shadow that’s covering the last third of your nose goes away? Oh, and Mimi—your makeup could use a bit of freshening…and Aunt Paula, is there anything you can do with your hair??
After the great picture gauntlet, we spent the afternoon opening presents and laughing at and with each other. Then there was the great gender-reveal gingerbread cake cutting which resulted in robust cheering and mayhem as Kaitlin and Jon announced that they will be having a _____. What? You think I’m going to reveal that before they do? I only look stupid.
Finally, yesterday was day three of the birth of Christ extravaganza, when the White clan descended on our hastily-cleaned house for a soup supper and a white elephant (no pun intended) exchange. Pam made chili and this amazing Tuscan spinach and sausage soup which was devoured as if the White family was a group of trail hands who hadn’t eaten in two days! It was delicious and the dessert table was divine with no fruit in sight. It was only 15 of us so it was not as unruly or as cramped. It was a wonderful evening that nobody seemed anxious to bring to a close. The gender reveal was greeted with enthusiastic hollering and an outpouring of love. A beautiful night.
So, there you have it. Three days and three days of celebrations. A ton of work was done by a lot of people to pull it off. But when the last guest drove away last night Pam said to me, “And that’s why I do this…what a joy it was to be together.”
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