Christmas revolved around fruitcake. Mother pinched pennies for weeks to buy the candied fruit and nuts required to bake the perfect fruitcake. On December 22, everything else was in readiness for FRUITCAKE baking. She chopped the nuts, candied fruit, brought out her spices and pulled out her time honored recipe for the perfect fruitcake which only graced our table during the Christmas Season. Baking the fruitcake was a sacred tradition, which we looked forward to it simply because it meant Christmas was almost here. The eating of the cake was irrelevant. The tradition was what mattered.
My maternal grandmother died December 16, 1964. We were all devastated. She was the indulgent figure in out lives. Her rare visits had a holiday quality. Her gifts were provided a few luxuries in our lives I couldn’t imagine life without her. She had mailed her Christmas gifts to us on the morning before she died in the night.. It arrived two or three days after her funeral. It was a macabre feeling, being anxious to find out what she’d sent, knowing she was in her grave.
In the way of kids everywhere, we rallied and had a wonderful Christmas. The gifts had special meaning, knowing they’d be the last. I still have a tiny jewelry box from that year. My poor brother managed to turn this sad situation into a mess. Grandma had included a small fruit cake in a red tin box. Mother put it up, intending to serve it on a special occasion. Naturally, this fruitcake from her mother was elevated to the sacred. Well, my brother Bill must have had a special occasion of his own. Mother found the empty fruitcake tin hidden in his room, not a crumb left.
She was furious! He had eaten her dead mother’s fruitcake……….the last gift she’d ever sent. He lived to regret his theft. She didn’t let him forget it for weeks, getting weepy every time she saw the shiny red box, sitting in a place of honor on the table. She keeps buttons and thread in that box till today.
This is probably the only documented story of anyone ever actually eating, much less stealing a fruitcake!
One year when my son was in high school he was especially full of himself. I snagged him to help decorate. Making no complaints, he offered to do the mantel, using the traditional garland, candles, sleigh and elves, paying careful attention to his Grandma’s hand-made Santa, the special centerpiece she always looked for. His enthusiasm was refreshing. The extended family had gathered, and of, was admiring Grandma’s lovely Santa gracing the mantel yet another year. That’s when it became apparent he’d made especially, good use of a giant red and white striped candy cane, enhancing Santa’s holiday charm. I hope he has five boys just like himself!
Dear Auntie Linda, I am a single woman who took three little girls through the foster care system. They were four, two years, and eleven months. They had two older brothers who had been taken by the paternal grandparents who weren’t related and couldn’t take the girls. I was aware Hallie had been sexually abused by her mother’s boyfriend and cautioned of the possibility she might act out sexually. Before the adoption was complete, the middle girl, Carly, told me that “Hallie hurt me.” She showed me where she had a laceration on her vagina. I was devastated, and called their social worker. To protect the little ones, Hallie was placed in another home where there was no other child. We maintained contact with supervised visits. Losing Hallie was a devastating loss to us all, even though it wasn’t allowed to keep them together. Hallie went on to develop a drug and alcohol problem. She ran away to live with a boyfriend at sixteen and had a baby a few months later. She is at risk of losing parental rights due to drug issues and has asked that Baby Gracie be placed with me, even though she is still angry and acts out at me because I reported that she was molesting her younger sister. Her rights have not yet been terminated. I’d love to take the baby, especially since she is family to my other girls. They desperately want the baby, but am concerned that Hallie will be a disruptive force in her life and ultimately cause problems for Gracie. What is likely best, a totally new start, or the risk that Hallie will cause trouble? Want the Best for My Girls
Nutsrok 