CHRISTMAS BY DECADES

In the 1920s my family Christmases were spent at the Holyoke home of my Childs grandparents, Fred and Jennie, with aunts Nell and Rachel, uncles Fred and George, their wives Thelma and Leida, cousin Gwendolyn and a large number of Bowers, Jennie's 12 brothers and sisters and their families. The 92 mile trip from Needham to Holyoke in a temperamental Buick was marked by cobbled roads through all the intervening towns while the Boston-Springfield interurban trolley passed on rails. Flat tires were frequent and Dad demonstrated skill in repairing blowouts and a rich barnyard vocabulary. To avoid backseat fights my brother and I were separated by a seat-to-roof stack of suitcases. Grandfather, a Holyoke Alderman for 44 years, was visited by many city staff and politicos. The tree was always too tall and had to be cut off at the top. The kid who enjoyed it most was Grandfather.

In the mid 1930s my brother and I persuaded our parents to celebrate at our home in Needham. We exchanged visits with friends to check out Santa's gifts and combined our Lionel train sets for a larger railroad. Gifts during Great Depression years were commonly necessities such as clothing. Snow was common and snowmen, forts and snowball fights were the rule. A horse-drawn plow cleared the sidewalk.

In the 1940s two Christmases were spent in warm climes courtesy of the war: 1944 in Miami and 1945 in Samar, Phillippine Islands where the temperature was 99 degrees and the relative humidity 99%. It was more than a year before I accommodated to another cold winter.

The 1950s brought new and exciting changes: marriage, five children, three transcontinental moves, our first house at 6707 SE 24th Street, end of residencies and a startup medical practice on Mercer Island. The larger burden was shouldered by Sarah: Chief Home Economist, Child Development Specialist, Chief of Animal Husbandry and other titles. To shield the tree and the oranemnts from toddlers, we erected the tree inside a playpen, secured the trunk to the corners with ropes, and placed the wrapped gifts inside. Mother of a toddler, take note!

The 1960s Christmas gifts reflected the full enjoyment of the Great Northwest: skiing, camping, sailing, opera and the full life of a large family. Al, Sr. and Priscilla Skinner resigned themselves to our permanent departure from New England and made several visits. Sarah's widowed sister, Priscilla Kingsley, moved to Mercer island with her four children and the cousins grew up together. In 1962 we built our permanent home next door to the old house with Sarah as General Contractor and multifactotem, Walter Berglund, ship's carpenter and John Malmfeldt, architect. 1963 is a year to be mourned for 10 year old Thomas was killed in an accident and also Al, Senior died of heart disease. We still grieve. Life went on and the ski trips extended over the Northwest. Peter entered the University of Washington and became a "madman" in the U. S. Navy Air Reserve. The medical practice grew and we built a new office building in collaboration with five partners.

The 1970s were periods of unrest and Civil Rights progress and youth rebellion. We were spared the extremes which afflicted other families. We spent three months in Europe, Al on a WHO fellowship, Sarah, Elizabeth and Matthew exploring and doing assignments for school and enriching ourselves with the Old World experience. Jody pioneered as a student at The Evergreen State College, an unconventional and challenging place, took up mountaineering, went to Outward Bound school, worked in Alaska fisheries. Peter was a working architect. Elizabeth followed to TESC. Matthew entered the Navy, schooled with Hyman Rickover and served in nuclear submarines. He returned to Western Washington University and graduated as a computer scientist at Microsoft. Christmas was at home except for one year in Hawaii (which wasn't the same!).

The 1980s Christmases found a daughter-in-law, two sons-in-law and grandchildren to liven things up. Evan graduated at Harvard after a crew career and Molly followed her parents to Evergreen. Sarah entered a career as a travel agent specializing in barge canal trips in Europe and we enjoyed the travel perks. Al retired in 1989 and he and Sarah toured behind the Iron Curtain just before it fell. Jody embarked on a career as a writer of scientific documents. Elizabeth was a counsellor at a facility for juvenile male felons, then became a gardener. Our home remains the focus for Christmas gatherings.

The 1990s and 2000s are years of aging, more or less gracefully and the home continues to be our snug harbor. Career changes: Adam is still an autombile technician but aspires to flight training; Matt left computers for creativity in construction; Elizabeth is a Child Protective Services social worker like her partner, Sonya DeWitt; Jody (now Jody Bower) is a student at Pacifica University intending to become a writer of mythological fiction; Pete and Sue are involved in Audi Quattro club and ski school. The daughters' husbands weren't keepers, alas.

We will be four generations at Christmas: Evan's wife Amy, their 2 1/2 year old Jacob, their unborn twins, all the usual suspects and others will be here. The only missing member is Molly, a Peace Corps Volunteer in Morocco, Good for her. Fa La La!