Christmas Memories of Past and Present

CLE Public Square mural

As I write this I just peeked outside, and it looks as if Northern Ohio may have a White Christmas this year. Every family has their Christmas traditions and memories, all the special things, activities, tastes and decorations that make the holidays special. I know I have been blessed my entire life with traditions that are rooted deep into my soul. I want to share some of these memories with you and hope they spark memories of your own family traditions.
My Mother – Vonda
My mother was the queen of Christmas traditions and each year my family celebrates her memory with many of them. My mother always had the most perfectly decorated tree and many years she would have a second tree. She would have her children and their families over to her house for a tree decorating party, allowing us to hang ornaments and keepsake memories on the tree, that we knew would be moved and rearranged the minute we walked out the door. For many years we would purposely hang certain ornaments in certain locations to only discover later that she had moved them according to where she thought they should be placed. Cookies were a huge part of her preparations before Christmas I can remember her baking for days and days and then decorating each baked morsel to perfection. In my youth I remember her making a chocolate cream pie topped with a mountain of whipped cream and crushed candy canes, my cousin Terry loved these pies and every time I think of those pies I think of Terry. After my mother passed away I had her ashes put in a beautiful urn that I decorate with angels on the top of my Great Grandmother Mrytie’s (my Grandpa Reed’s mother) china cabinet. My mother made sure Christmas was always a magical time for her children and grandchildren and we hold these memories deep in our hearts every year.
My Grandma Reed – Lucy
I cherish memories my Grandma Reed created for her family each year, blue lights adorned her front porch and she and Aunt Lynn would make fudge and sea foam candy (Divinity) that would be devoured by us Reeds. Each year she would purchase a large box of Vanilla Peanut in 1984 I was given a wooden ornament with my name on it, something that she had hand painted for her entire family in the 1970’s, I am so blessed to be able to hang this ornament on my tree each year along with the ornament she made for my Dad. I miss you Grandma and thank you for always showing me the true meaning of family.
Aunt Carlene
One tradition that is missed by everyone in my family is that of Aunt Carlene’s cookie party. We would visit her at her home in Sandusky to fill our bellies with her delicious loving made cookies, especially her Molasses Cookies that was and continues to be a Proctor family> favorite. One year we asked her to bake us six dozen of these wonderful cookies, we had planned to give as gifts to family friends sharing how wonderful they were, however we managed to devour those cookies before a single cookie could be gifted, each time we would hide them from each other hoping that we would have some for gifts – a gift only we enjoyed that year. Christmas simply couldn’t come with out a cup of strong coffee and cookies with Aunt Carlene and Uncle Bob.
The Brown Family
Each year Jackie’s family gathers for a day of brunch and crafts and has proven to be a much-anticipated event every year. Each family is responsible for bring a craft idea and the supplies to make it. This year our family made Snowman Luminarias and enjoyed a day with our family.
My family has always loved Christmas lights and we have for many years made a trek following Thanksgiving to Oglebay Park in Wheeling to see the Festival of Lights – something that always filled us with joy. There is also the Lights Before Christmas at the Toledo Zoo and we have visited there many times since 1995. This year we spent an entire Saturday in Cleveland taking in the sights of the holidays and we highly recommend that you visit Public Square. The decorations of the recently renovated square are the best they have been in many years and the decorations adorning the JACK Casino and Terminal Tower entrances are fantastic. Playhouse Square with the Festival of Trees in the Allen Theater is reminiscent of a local favorite that Milan held for many years in Christmas Tree Lane. GE’s Nela Park in East Cleveland also has some of the best displays, how could they not; being on the Nela Park Campus of GE. For the first time in sixty years GE allows you to drive through the compound. Another spectacular display is that of Victory Park in North Ridgeville, a one-mile drive through display where the $25 donation is donated to University Children’s Hospitals. In Norwalk if you missed out on Light Up Norwalk, you missed an enjoyable day of celebrating our local businesses and lights that adorn our historic Main Street.
My daughters have always had the opportunity to share in some of these wonderful memories and traditions and well one daughter, Syd, should have been named Mistletoe or Holly…maybe Joy because she embodies all of her family traditions and then some. We made our cookies yesterday which included cut-outs, gingerbread, dipped pretzels, dipped marshmallows and of course, Buckeyes. No Ohio family is without this chocolate covered peanut butter ball during the holiday season. Whatever your Christmas memories and traditions hold for you…keep them alive in your hearts as a memory of those that created them that we miss and love during Christmas – Merry Christmas and may God bless you this Holiday Season! Please share your favorite Christmas memories and traditions in the comments.

I’ve included my Buckeye recipe – if you’ve never had, once you try you’ll be hooked.