The Ruby Chronicles (#4)

Editor Note:  The Ruby Chronicles essays come to me courtesy of Sid Stivland. 

Christmas in My Youth

Why are Christmas decorations hung up so early in our small towns and cities?  We haven’t digested our Thanksgiving turkey before we hear the cities are already decorated for Christmas.

When I was a young girl perhaps 10 or 12, our mother always asked us to go to our kind neighbor lady, Mrs. Borg, on December 24^th and help her get her house cleaned and tree decorated if they had one.  My older sister often baked cookies for her while Rhoda and I cleaned.

Oh how pleased we were and how good we felt when Mrs. Borg’s house was ready for the holidays.

Late afternoon we trudged home and decorated our tree which stood in one corner of the living room.

After our traditional Christmas Eve meal of lutefisk, lefse, and potato sausage and outside chores all done, we all went into the living room and had our gift exchange.  The gifts were practical ones – scarves, mittens, etc.

I remember I brought a little red ball for 5c at Bisek’s Mercantile Store to give Rhoda one year.

Ruby Anderson Johnson