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Christmas In May
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Christmas in May
One afternoon, a friend told the story of how one of her own family traditions was born. Her father, forever free-spirited, popped into town from out of state and they arranged to get together for dinner. Her sister in Philadelphia didn’t want to be left out, so she drove home to Maryland. Aunts and uncles suggested they come together at their house, which happened to be crawling with cousins, and the next thing you know, there was a party. As grandparents and more relatives were called, the backdoor continued to fly open, inviting hollers, and then hugs from the gathering crowd. Everyone just kept coming. They joked that it was their ‘Christmas in May.’
The afternoon came together fast. Someone picked up a bushel of steamed crabs, while others fried buttermilk chicken, husked corn, whipped deviled eggs and brewed sweet tea. They laid layers of neighborhood news on the picnic table as a makeshift tablecloth, and carted out the bounty out like, well, like aunts to a picnic.
Cracking crabs and passing paper plates they told stories of holidays past; when an ornery cousin dented their grandfather’s Chrysler one Christmas Eve, and how her great-uncle would eek-out holiday carols after dinner on his violin. Even Grandpa chimed in with stories of being a child growing up in Baltimore with his four siblings. They sat around for hours. Everyone had a story to tell, his or her own piece of the family patchwork.
No one rushed to clean up, there wasn’t much to do but roll up the paper anyhow. Her grandmother set the needle to old holiday records; she was a musician in her day and still had stacks of jazz from her time. Sitting back, listening and laughing, the group thumbed through vinyl and handed around newspaper clippings gathered through the years.
If we’re lucky, we all have days like these shuffled into our busy lives. Just like the announcements and achievements clipped from those city papers, like their family’s crab-shell covered tablecloth that day, that special afternoon too, eventually flipped into the past. It’s up to us to make these times memorable, to make our mess, to make our mark.
Sometimes, there are no family birthdays, no major holidays, no real reasons to get together. So you make one up. That’s what family is about- making the time to be together. There’s a reason Prince George’s County is all about family. It’s why we treasure traditions like ‘Christmas in May.’ It’s where families (just like yours) come together.
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By: Rebecca Roemer
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