Epiphany 2019

Every year, in January, we celebrate Epiphany instead of Christmas. We started this years ago when our kids started getting married and having their own traditions--in their own homes or with in-laws or with friends. So, instead of trying to compete, we set up our own tradition and invited all family members to come for brunch on Epiphany to celebrate the visit of the Magi to the baby Jesus. This celebration has taken different forms over the years, but the core of it remains constant. The question is not what do you want to get, but what do you want to give. Jesus said that whatever we do to "the least of these my brethren" (the poorest people) you have done it to him. So, like the Magi, we give gifts to Jesus instead of to each other. For this, we use the World Vision catalogue.
The day usually goes something like this: family members begin to arrive about 11a.m. The coffee is put on, and we chat for a while. I have plates of cookies, Japanese oranges, nuts, chocolates, etc. for nibbles. Then one of my sons (Steve does it now) goes into the kitchen to make the brunch. I have about three dozen eggs, 6 cans of asparagus, 3 dozen English muffins, and a couple of hams all set out to be made into Eggs Benedict without the sauce. On the dining table there are two big punch bowls of juice and pop. No alcohol since the year one of my grandsons got drunk drinking the "adult" punch instead of the kids' punch. He was only four years old. In the fridge, there are a couple of trifles to be set out when the eggs and ham are done. Again, no more alcohol in the trifles--just Jello, pudding, cake and fruit.
We used to play a circle game, like musical chairs, for those who brought gifts to pass around. That died out a few years ago. But we still play the bucket game. I have a bucket filled with wrapped gifts--some of them are pretty good like chocolates or wine or a gift card to a restaurant. Other gifts are cheap and silly, like a set of kids' blocks or a pair of pantyhose or a deck of cards. People take turns choosing a gift. They open it up and show everyone and the next person has the choice of stealing a gift that is already open, or choosing a wrapped one from the bucket.
This year we added "chalking the door"--an ancient religious ceremony where a member of the family, or a priest if one is handy, take some chalk (which is supposed to have been blessed, but we didn't have any blessed chalk this year) and writes on the lintel of the main entrance:
 "20 C + M + B 19". This is 2019, broken up so it begins with 20, then we add C, M, B, and close it up with 19.>2019. C stands for Caspar, M is for Melchior, and B is for Balthazar, the supposed names of the three kings who followed the star to visit Jesus, the Magi. The other interpretation of the letters is Christus Mansionem Benedicat, or May Christ bless this house. The crosses between the letters represent the cross of Jesus, his death and resurrection.
Best of all is the gathering of family members. This year we had all three of our surviving children, a couple of grandchildren and two great grandchildren (one a teenager the other a babe-in-arms).
I've been writing my autobiography, If Anyone Should Ask. I've been writing it in decades rather than chapters. Last September, on my 80th birthday, I distributed Decade One. At the Epiphany Brunch this year, I distributed Decade Two. We expect that the great-grandson who visited us this Epiphany will be baptized at Easter (hopefully) and we'll have a family gathering for that. At that time, I hope to be able to distribute Decade Three--but first I have to write it.

the new year, 2019

I really blew it with my Epiphany Letter this year! I hate to think my memory is going--I cherish it so much. But somehow I totally forgot what happened last New Year's Eve and wrote about the year before. Really! I still don't remember what we did New Year's Eve 2017/18. But it was the previous year that Frank had his stroke at midnight and then had to have the pacemaker put in. And that's what I announced in my annual newsletter. Our friends and relatives who knew better must have thought I'd really lost it, or maybe Frank had another attack. No, he's fine. But as for last year? I have no idea.
This year's New Year's Eve was peaceful. We had a light supper of leftover turkey soup, then I set out a platter for the two of us, of just crackers and Kerrywood Dubliner Cheese and some green olives. I opened a bottle of sparkling rose wine, and we started our nibbling and sipping about 6 pm. By midnight, the bottle was almost done, as were the nibbles. We toasted the new year, banged some kettles and things outside on the patio to announce the arrival of 2019. Then Frank went to bed and I watched tv for a while.
So, here's to a new year filled with happy memories--some of which I hope I'll be able to recall this time next year!