Love & laughter at Christmas

Christmas Eve in the morning I packed my clothes and left for my daughter’s home. She had invited me to spend the eve with her and my grandchildren, two of hers and two of her oldest sister’s. It was going to be a quiet day spent only among family. We would have an early dinner. She had ordered a turkey and a lamb leg. In preparation for this dinner, we only had sandwiches for lunch. There was a buzz of excitement in the air, but still no Christmas spirit for me.

At around one in the afternoon the two older boys walked in. Powie, my eldest grandson, the first, is 23 now and all of 6’1”. He was fighting the flu. Nic, his younger brother, is 19 now and all of 5’11”. They are giants, my grandsons, and wonderfully good-looking, each in his own way.

“Powie,” I asked, teasing, “will you give me a great-grandchild in five years?” He looked at me and smiled. “Yeah, maybe, Nannie.” That was what he christened me when he was small. My daughter asked what I wanted to be called and I said, “Granny,” like the then Playboy Granny, dressed in a nightie, stalking hotel corridors holding a champagne bottle, looking for prey. I was only 40 when Powie was born. Powie couldn’t say Granny. He called me Nannie, and all my grandchildren have called me that since.

 “Wait till next year, Nannie,” Nic interrupted. “I’ll give you a great-grandchild.” That got as all laughing. “Anyway, no one has to get married. She’s only asking for a baby.”

This pleases me about my older grandsons. They seem comfortable with me, are not worried about their language, not worried about anything. They know what kind of a person I am, jocular, always teasing them about one thing or the other, almost never serious but the few times that I am, when I want to talk to them about something important, they listen.

Powie lives in the States and has a job there. He is concerned. He may lose it, then what does he do for money? “Look,” I advised. “Watch your neighbors. What are their concerns? What are they doing? What need do you see? Maybe they need a day-care center where they might leave their kids for less money. If you can offer that, they will give you business and soon you will have money coming in. I am not saying that you need to set up day care but you need to observe them and offer to give them what they need. That’s the trick. Begin to open your eyes now, Pow, because believe me First World countries will slowly turn into Third World and they don’t know yet what they are going to do. Your advantage is you come from the Third World, so open your eyes and look really well.”

We trimmed the tree together, some doing more than others. My daughter worked the hardest, assisted by her sons Sancho and Andres. The tree was tall, stately and smelled good. It was trimmed with 33 roses — 30 red and three white — and all sorts of Christmas ornaments, including pictures of the boys as they grew. Then we had dinner at around 4:30 p.m. because the older grandsons had to catch up with another dinner at their father’s house. That has always been the story of my family — always multiple celebrations. We are all used to it.

After dinner the four grandsons went out to the garden to play ball. Nic discovered Sancho’s bow and arrow and began to play with it. He fell in love with it and told his Tita Fuh, that’s what we call my daughter, that he wanted one exactly like that for Christmas. The older boys (23 and 19) played ball with the younger ones (11 and seven), kind of a trick game. They were supposed to catch the ball though they could not tell where it was coming from. I watched them from inside the house, my heart bursting with love for them. How I love them all! They are so beautiful and handsome in my eyes and I enjoy sitting, talking, laughing with them. I adore these tall young ones who now hug me, making me feel like their little child, like their little Nannie.

Soon they had to go and our holiday began to rest, to get some early sleep so we could awaken at five the next morning, open our gifts and eat eggs benedict prepared by my daughter. Then we all began to part once more. I went to my son’s to have lunch with him, his wife and his daughter, who looked so lovely and funky in her tulle skirt worn over leggings.

Maybe I still had no spirit, but inside me I was profoundly grateful that I had a beautiful band of grandchildren who filled my heart with love and joy. Now I look forward to the new year.

Christmas Eve really changed things for me. It didn’t give me spirit. It brought me love and laughter instead.

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