Sleeping
By the Fire
393 words
The Spirit of Christmas Lives In the Stories
by Dianne Roth
One Christmas Eve we began sleeping together on the living room
floor. It came about because one of us thought it would be a good
idea to keep the fire in the fireplace going all through Christmas
Eve and throughout Christmas day.
As with all good ideas, it gained a life of its
own. My brother and I volunteered to get up during the night and
feed the fire. That was vetoed because it was thought we would
probably sleep through our shifts. Then, we offered to sleep on
the floor in front of the fire.
Here, I am not exactly sure what my parents were
thinking. It might have been that they did not want us to left
unsupervised with the fire. My dad was dreadfully afraid of a
house fire and probably could not have slept knowing we were up
messing with the fire. Or, it might simply have sounded like fun.
In either case, from that Christmas on, for many
years, my parents would dismantle their bed, carrying their mattress
to the living room floor. Furniture would have to be rearranged,
bedding and pillows hauled, and sleeping bags brought up from
the basement. My brother and I would sleep on each side of them.
We would each quietly get up during the night
to feed the fire. I remember hearing one or another up and about
during the night. The light of the embers was enough to place
a log on the grate and secretly fill stockings hung from the mantel.
In the morning, with the fire still burning,
we would open presents and check out what “Santa”
had left in our stockings. All through the day, amid preparations
for our Christmas dinner and visits with friends and family, logs
would be added to the fire.
At the end of Christmas Day, we would gather
around the embers to let the holiday spirit slowly slip up the
chimney with the last wisps of smoke. It was a simple thing, sleeping
together, filling the stockings, and keeping the fire burning,
but we loved it.
Great Christmas memories tend to have little
to do with spending money or receiving presents. The shared events
and rituals that are passed along as stories carry the true meaning
of family holidays. Find a time this and every holiday to share
the family stories with your children.
Dianne Roth is a teacher, mother, grandmother, and freelance
writer. She lives in Oregon.
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