When I was growing up there was always an orange in the toe of my Christmas stocking. It wasn’t until I became an adult that I found out why. My dad was born during the Great Depression. When he was very young, his family didn’t have a lot of money. Before my grandfather married my grandmother, he immigrated from Denmark. He was the oldest of 7 children, so he came over first and then he worked to pay for safe passage for his 6 younger siblings and his mother. Because they didn’t have much money, gifts were few and far between. Each Christmas, my dad and his three brothers we get a few oranges, a new pair of wool mittens, and one other gift like a football or a pocketknife. Oranges were a rare and special treat to them. So…oranges in my Christmas stocking, and when my son was growing up, there was always an orange in his stocking too
Today I can walk into any grocery store and buy a big bag of fresh oranges, and I do. I eat one just about every morning in wintertime. I try to take my time, peeling the orange slowly, savoring the taste. Most of all, I think of my dad and my grandparents. It’s a good way to keep me mindful and appreciative.
Im not really feeling the Christmas spirit this year. I didn’t even put up a tree. My family is still struggling with the loss of my sister. My son and I are spending a few days over Christmas with my parents, cooking for them, baking cookies, and acting as a general distraction (I hope). I’ll go to the Christmas Eve church service with my mom and I’ll make Christmas dinner. I can tell yiu what we’re not having: ham. Those of you who’ve known me for years are well aware of my great detest of ham. Because I hate it so much, as a kid I came up with this logic as to why we should not have ham at Christmas and Easter: these holidays were meant to celebrate Jesus and Jesus was a Jew and Jews don’t eat pork so therefore, we shouldn’t have ham. Hey, I tried! You can see how I exasperated my mother when I was a child. She always said I think too much. I probably do.
My my big brother and me, Christmas 1970
December 21, 2014
Enjoy! I always had an Apple at the toe of my stocking. Apples don’t grow where I was born so the only time we got apples was at Christmas time. Sometimes I still get nostalgic eating an apple which i know, is the most common fruit here. Go figure. But like you said, it reminds me to enjoy it and to remember the preparation that goes into creating it. It’s a good exercise in mindfulness.
December 21, 2014
Natasha, I love that! It’s those little things that mean so much and remind us to be mindful. After all these years, I still think of the oranges. Just a simple little piece of fruit, not any of the other much more expensive gifts. It really shows us what matters.