I miss my Granny. My Granny loved Christmas. Well, any holiday, for that matter. But for Christmas, she had a special formula to make everything flow in the way she had planned. She was a 4’11” holiday powerhouse of tradition.
Her home used to be decorated with every possible holiday item available: the Kleenex box holder; the window-sticker decals; the tinsel, the tinsel, and the tinsel on the tree; the special table cloth, etc. Head to toe décor. And, yes, she had a holiday sweater and turtleneck.
Granny made sure that Christmas Eve was reserved for all her daughters, son-in-laws, and grandchildren. We ate until we had stuffed ourselves on deviled eggs, ham, rolls, corn, and green beans. Then, we gathered in the family room. The Christmas Story was read from the gospel of Luke, and presents were opened in an orderly fashion so she could see what everyone got. (We used to have a free for all, and around age 76, she decided that wasn’t working for her.)
As time passed, she didn’t have enough money to dish out big presents for us, so she would give us a five in a card, and give us her special hangers. She learned the “hanger-wrap” technique from the Fordsville Homemakers. She would wrap colorful yarn around a wire hanger. On a good year, when she hadn’t had too many health issues, we would each get about five.
I can still hear my cousin, Melanie, “Oh, look, hangers from Granny! Thank you, Granny!” Melanie is known to be the family dramatist even from her early years.
It sounds bizarre, but I am certain we still all have the hangers. My hangers have traveled with me all throughout the country. (I really like the ones that have the pom-pom feature at the hanger neck. I try to steal those from my mom’s house when I visit.) So if you’re feeling a little down because you don’t have a lot of cash to pour forth on gifts, remember that even hangers wrapped with yarn can be a gift that is treasured for years if love is given with it.
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