Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, November 18, 1994 TAG: 9412080007
SECTION: HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE PAGE: HGG-19 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SARAH COX
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"My first Christmases were in my grandmother's house on Mountain Avenue. When I went to bed on Christmas Eve, there were decorations in the house, but no tree. When I woke up, usually before anyone else, Mother and Daddy wouldn't let me go down the steps. Then, the parlor door opened as I got down the steps and when it opened, there was the lighted tree with packages under it. So I grew up assuming Santa came in and left all that," she said.
Only circumstances and other people's input have changed that original tradition.
"You get new ones as you get older," she said, "and it wasn't until I moved into another house at age 16 that it gradually became different. All of us decorated the tree then."
Later, as a young career woman, Albrecht went to France and picked up traditions of her own. She said it probably was during this time that she started inviting people over to have eggnog on Christmas Eve.
And later on, when she had her own family, she continued this, and it "developed into a family thing." Her son's friends, claiming they didn't have a thing to do on Christmas Eve, would come down that night, throw a few ornaments on the tree, and have fun.
"I still feel that the tree should be decorated on Christmas Eve because that was how I grew up. I firmly believe in traditions," she said.
Traditions to Albrecht mean an anticipation for something that doesn't happen but once a year. To her, traditions bring together the people you love. In addition to the tree, her family always had a big Christmas day breakfast at her grandmother's house and the night before, she was read "The Night Before Christmas."
Phyllis Norbo, a Roanoke native, has an entirely different set of traditions, but hers, also, center around Santa and family.
Norbo said her family always went to a Christmas Eve church service and had Christmas dinner that night as well because out-of-town relatives came then. Turkey, dressing, Smithfield ham, sweet potato casserole, corn pudding, fresh coconut cake made by a friend (who makes it to this day), and her dad's ambrosia were waiting for them after church. Not until last year, when they tried tenderloin (but included the ambrosia and coconut cake) have they deviated all these years.
In addition, Norbo said they each got to open one present on Christmas Eve. Norbo, who has three daughters, said that even today the tradition remains. Her children get to open one present and work on a letter to Santa. The big family dinner is no longer held on Christmas Eve, however. Her immediate family has dinner together that night, and Christmas morning is the start of the real festivities.
"Christmas morning, we have brunch at my house with my parents and then everybody gets dressed and drives to everybody else's houses. We visit all our siblings and the kids, and always end up eating lunch in Salem and dinner in the afternoon at my parents' house," she said.
Christmas Eve traditions haven't changed much for her, she said, even with the inclusion of her husband's traditions because they visit his parents in Northern Virginia for Thanksgiving.
"It's important to keep it up," she said. "It's part of your family history, and you can pass it along to your kids."
At the Norbos, stockings are mysteriously filled on Christmas Eve by Santa. This fine fellow also leaves his unwrapped presents under the Norbo's tree, where the children find them the next morning.
Eric Fitzpatrick, an area artist, comes from a family who also savors the joy of Christmas Eve traditions.
When Fitzpatrick was younger, he said, it was fine if it was snowing. He said they would all go into the den, turn off the lights, sit by a roaring fire, and listen to Christmas carols and watch the snow fall
"And mom'll give you a back scratch; life can't get much better," he said.
He said his family Christmas Eve tradition eventually included visiting those who needed visiting - maybe those who had lost their loved ones - and they ended up at the 11 o'clock church service. He said the service at Second Presbyterian Church was always peaceful. There was a bit of preaching and scripture reading, and then the lights would dim for meditation. The bell would strike 12 times at midnight and the choir would sing, "Joy to the World."
"Everyone would turn and wish each other Merry Christmas, then we would take a walk around the block at home," he said. He said they still go to 11 o'clock service as a family.
by CNB