Life's Funny That Way

My Favorite Holiday Memories

I was just talking about this with my sister the other day.  Our two sets of grandparents were so different, but we loved going to both places at Christmas time.  My father comes from a Finnish family.  Finns, as some may know, are not exactly known for their outward displays of affection.  Don’t get me wrong, my grandparents loved us dearly, and we knew that, but they just weren’t the hugging, kissing, playful type of people.  We laugh now because the conversation was always the same between my dad and my grandfather.

“How’s the car running?”

“Good.”

“Good, good.”

“Yep.”

“A lot of traffic on your way up?” (they lived in the U.P. of Michigan and we in Wisconin)

“Nope.  Nope.  Not too bad.”

“Good, good.”

“Yep, yep.”

There was that conversation every time we went up.  We knew how the visit would start.  Those two things, we thought at the time, we Grandpa’s main concern.  Sometimes there was a conversation about the road conditions, but not often.  They were always bad.  That’s just the way it was back then.  I remember the snow banks in Ironwood, MI the most as far as the ride up.  There was so much snow up there; the banks would be straight up at the roads, like white walls.  It was almost as if the roads were cut into a mountain of snow.  Sometimes, when we passed the post office, we’d have to wait for a few minutes while someone ran in to get their mail.  There was really nowhere to park, so people would just stop on the road, run in, get their mail, and then run back out, jump in the car, and continue on their way.  It was such a simpler, slower time then.  Maybe they still do it today, I don’t know… but I doubt it.

I also remember my grandma’s plates.  They were the coolest thing I had ever seen.  We had normal, boring plates at home (as did my grandmother, but she took out her special “China” for the holidays).  They were white with green scenes on them.  For me, it was an incentive to eat absolutely everything on my plate.  I knew what the scene was (although the details escape me today), but I was so fascinated with the intricate picture.  My dad’s family was fairly small, three kids and four grandkids.  So, it was the eight adults (aunts, uncles, mom, dad, and grandma and grandpa), and us four kids.  We stayed pretty quiet as kids, but we had a lot of fun, and they were great people.  I also remember my grandpa always told us, “Never say goodbye.  Always say, ‘see you later’.  Good bye means you’ll never see someone again.”  I thought that odd as a kid but, looking at it now, I believe he was the one in his family who came here from Finland… so saying goodbye, to him, probably meant an entirely different thing.  Good bye, to him, was forever.

Now, contrast this with my mom’s side of the family.  My grandparents on her side had five kids…. Who gave her thirteen grand children.  At the time, when we were kids, we all lived in the same small town, but life got in the way of us seeing each other as much as we would have liked.  So, any holiday (be it Christmas, Halloween, what have you) was the greatest get together at Gramma’s (yes, she was Gramma, not Grandma… small difference, I know… also, for those of you younger than me, this was also back in the day when you called your grandparents by their last names as a matter of respect… Grandma Joki…. (my dad’s mom)… I don’t think I knew, until much later in life, that her first name was Lolita).  There was so much laughter and so much fun.  Looking back, I don’t know how we all fit in that house.  My Granmma’s siblings would be there, too (my grammpa passed away when I was fairly young).  We kids would have a great time playing and horsing around with each other.  The adults would sit at the dining room table joking, playing cards, having some “holiday cheer”… it was a laugh-a-minute affair.  Some of the greatest times I remember as a child were with my cousins at my Gramma’s house.  It was the gathering place and, no matter what differences anyone was having with anyone else in the family, it never came up during the holidays, and no harsh words were ever spoken (at least that we knew of).

Both of these places, still to this day, hold such a special place in my heart.  These are my favorite holiday memories.  I’ve had great Christmases since my grandparents have passed, don’t get me wrong.  But these occasions were the things childhood memories are made from.  Those were the best days!


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