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be a time to enjoy my grown children and their spouses. I get my sister to entertain the children in the decorated basement and I have homemade vegetable soup with cornbread for our meal. Not expensive and very filling. The food isn't the highlight of the evening, it's having time together instead of rushing off to the stores to purchase "things" We also look at those picture albums of Christmas past and the laughter and memories are abundant.

I am a crafter and my husband a woodworker as hobbies. We both have lots of "scraps" around and each year brings new items to give to the family. I have made pillows for the grownups, rag dolls for the girls and my husband is a whiz at birdhouses. Each person can then come to my crafting area and paint their birdhouse at a later time. It extends the togetherness. We were blessed this year with an abundant apple crop from our one Arkansas Black tree. I canned the apples with our granddaughters helping, so I am letting them give those jars of apples to their loved ones.

Christmas Eve is our special time together and that is when we will read the Christmas story. Next year I may let the children act out the parts. We do have the Christmas ham, and I bake my biscuits, but now my children bring the fixings. We still have the seven layer Christmas dessert and I hope we can always afford these simple things. After opening the gifts, which do not require batteries or assembly, we sing Christmas carols. After much visiting and loving each other, we say goodnight with hearts full of joy.

And in case you are thinking I am a little grandmother in my apron and bonnet, I assure you I am not. I am just one person who is very glad to take commercialism out of Christmas in the best way I know how. I just seize opportunities as they come to keep my family seeing what is and will always be important, being part of a loving family. Especially at Christmas.

Learn more about this author, Patricia Mallicote Albert.
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