In a message dated 12/22/2001 2:47:20 PM Eastern Standard Time,
cazzy62(a)hotmail.com writes:
<< What kind of Christmas traditions do you have? I really don't have one
anymore. My only tradition is that I start my Christmas cards the day after
Thanksgiving. I like to hang them around the door so they are right there
to enjoy. >>
Hi Nancy and fellow Caswells,
My family never had a lot of traditions but one thing we always did was
to open one gift the night before Christmas - as kids it took some of the
edge off of the whole event. I always envied the kids who got to open all
their gifts on Christmas Eve!
We did always go to see our cousins and grandparents on Christmas Day and
they would always come over to our house as well. Usually we had our
Christmas dinner as just a nuclear family although occasionally we would get
together for a mega gathering.
The one tradition that held for years when my mother and her sibs were
alive was that everyone came over to my Mom's for dessert on Christmas. There
would be all kinds of pies, cakes, and also suet pudding - which sounds yucky
but it is delicious. My mother hated cooking regular meals but she loved
making fabulous desserts. (And she never weighed more than a hundred pounds!)
While we are on the subject of Caswells and traditions, we always had
turkey with fried stuffing - that came from my mother's side, which is where
my Caswell ties are, but other than my mother, maternal grandmother, and my
maternal aunts and cousins no one has ever heard of fried stuffing. I've
tried to find out how it was handed down with no luck - has any one else ever
heard of it? It is only bread stuffing with the usual sage, onions, celery,
etc but then you fry it till its nice and lightly crispy on the outside - it
is one of my favorites.
Other traditions included going to church on Christmas Eve - it was
always a 7:30 PM candlelight service and I loved it. If I were not usually
working 3-11 on Christmas Eve I would still be going but by the time I get
off work all the Baptists are in bed! My Caswells married into the Crandalls
so you know my upbringing was staunch Baptist for the most part :)
Happy holidays to all and how about others passing on any traditions? I
love to hear what others do no matter what holiday you celebrate or how you
celebrate.
Donna in RI (Great great great granddaughter of Frances Caswell and
George Washington Crandall, Sr.)