NO More Free Ride At Papa & Grandma's

[tred1956]

Started a NEW tradition at Grandma and Papa's house this year. Grandma and I have four Children and nine Grandchildren with our First Great Grandchild due March 2024. While it is VERY unusual, we had ALL of them together yesterday to celebrate the birth of our Savior. We have tried to gather at our house on Christmas Eve for the last twenty plus years. While someone most of the time has to work, we are truly blessed when they all make it. Grandma and I smile at each other and need NO other gift. We are truly Blessed.
We have a lot of the meal catered and Grandma cooks the rest with a little help from the family of course. Last year as I looked at our beautiful HEALTHY Family, it brought tears to my eyes. First, I thanked GOD for them, their smiles and their Health. I then informed them that beginning in 2023 Christmas Eve Dinner at Grandma and Papas was NO LONGER FREE. Each adult guest would be EXPECTED to bring a twenty-dollar bill. We told them that Grandma and I would gladly still cover the cost of the meal, but when they arrived, they found the pictured bag sitting on the table. We are soo blessed and thankful but some other families are not so I am Happy and Proud to say that we collected $380.00 which will be donated to St Jude's Children Hospital this week.


NOT a single person complained about the $20 requirement. In fact, they all smiled as the dropped it in the bag.


The tradition begins,


We thank You Dear Lord for your Son and for all Our Blessings,
Merry Christmas My Friends
Papa & Grandma

[big honkin jeep]

Thats awesome.
St. Judes is a great cause

[Dave Hoback]

I understand your thankfulness tred. I am 4th oldest in a family of 8 siblings, including my Korean brother our family unofficially adopted & lived with us for several years. I’m 3rd oldest in my parents birth children, and they remained together in a loving marriage to the day my father passed away in 2020. (NO, it wasn’t the covi-wovy PANIC that caused it. He had been on borrowed time for probably 5 years prior to his death.) All of us have been married & have had 3 or more children of our own. We were always a very close family and have had many times in the past we were all together. Except for my Korean brother as he was in the Navy from the time he was 19, only seeing him a handful of times over the last 2.5+ decades & now lives in Korea, although we have remained close. As for this Christmas only my two younger sisters & children, and a few of the other grown children were not present together with our mother on the 23rd. This is very common through the year with holidays, birthday & such. For at least half to the large bulk of us getting together. And I praise The Lord for our tight knit bond with & love for one another. I’m very happy to know He has blessed your family in much the same way my brother in Christ.

Nice little tradition you started.

[KMW1954]

I am pretty certain that like many others of my generation the circle is shrinking. My parents and their siblings are all passed. Two older sisters are far out in Mont. they were unable to travel. My two elder brothers have now also passed, leaving me the eldest living brother. One brother in MD and a sister in NC then my baby brother just blocks away.

My own children have also moved away. One to MN, one to Central Illinois and one outside Chicago. We have all agreed to meet at my Daughters after the New Year. So we hosted my wife's children and grandchildren along with her parents. Small dinner, open presents, hugs and kisses then a nice quiet night on the 24th..

Was a very nice time but somehow just didn't feel the same.

[charlie b]

Yep, getting older kinda sucks. Especially with the holidays. Doesn't help that my mother and wife's mother both passed in Dec (years apart). One of my two brothers is gone and one of my wife's two brother-in-laws has passed. With kids and grandkids scattered around the country, what used to be a group of 20 is now down to 5.

PS I like the charity idea. St Jude's is one we've donated regularly to over the years. We always did pot lucks for family dinners.