The Christmas Novena began in the middle of December. Although harsh, several of us young kids got up just before 5 a.m. and went to church.
The cold mountain air pinched my cheeks and took my breath away. When I inhaled through my nose, my nostrils would stick together. I wrapped a scarf around my mouth and nose. As I walked, seeing my breath, I pretended I was smoking a cigarette. The condensation in the chilled air not only affected my breathing but bones as well.
Everything around us kids was innocent, but the mischievousness in our developing minds was not. The mass was monotonous, but the spirit of Christmas influenced us to attend, knowing our families were still sleeping. We made plans the night before to meet by the church at quarter to five.
My father would never allow me to leave the house at such an early hour.
Since I took religion classes, I was able to convince him. I came up with a little fib. Our priest demanded we attend the Christmas Novena to help us get a good mark in religion, and with our first communion blessing.
Little did he know.
My girlfriends and I sat behind a pew of old ladies praying the Rosary. We were too young to know the Rosary, but we said a few Our Fathers, and Hail Mary’s.
As they kept going, we sat silently. The old ladies, all wore the same brown square shawls with long fringe resembling dreadlocks. The shawls were folded in a triangle. It covered most of their bust and waist, and from what I heard it kept them very warm. My grandmother also had one.
As we sat quietly, we all had the same idea. We began tying the fringe of the shawls from one lady to the other, down the entire pew. It was priceless watching them trying to come out of their seats — some exiting towards the right the rest towards the left. The surprised look on their faces, as they were pulling against each other. Suddenly all their shawls fell on the church floor. Some were upset, and some took it with a good laugh and much patience, untying the dreadlocked fringes. As we looked from afar laughing like silly girls.
One of the other things that attracted us to church was the massive Nativity scene. It was an entire village with big mountains, houses, a blacksmith. All kinds of animals, and figurines. They all had a purpose. If you watched it long enough the Nativity Scene started to come to life. The empty cave waiting for the arrival of our lord and savior.
I could stay there for hours, admiring it and use my imagination to create the saga of Jesus.
What made Christmas special was my Uncle Rosario, who could always put a smile on our faces. Artificial Pine trees were rare in houses of poor people, my uncle would cut down a Lucina tree, bring it home and before we all knew, it became a beautiful Christmas tree. It filled the house with the fresh scent of the Mountains.
We decorated it with candies, chocolate kisses, mandarins, and strings of popcorn that we helped make. Now no longer bare, it was a beautiful and humble Christmas tree.
My uncle had four sons, and I was his only niece in town. Uncle Rosario told us not to touch the ornaments until after Christmas. The aroma of the mandarins circulated the house teasing us.
We resisted the first day, after that, the cheating began. My oldest cousin asked what I would like. I chirped out a chocolate kiss. All of the boys took something as well.
“That’s way too many decorations off the tree, yells my oldest cousin. Papa is going to notice.”
One of the boys came up with a brilliant idea to replace the candy. Fill the wrappers with old chewing gum.
There we were the five masterminds, sitting by the fireplace, chewing gum like little mules, to fill the empty foils. We shaped the wrapping as perfect as possible and placed them towards the back of the tree. It worked like a charm.
Little by little even the popcorn garland was getting skimpy, which made my uncle suspicious. One day he gathered us around the tree and asked if we had noticed a mouse eating the popcorn.
I stayed silent as the boys looked at each other. The middle one finally spoke up.
“Now that you mention it, Papa, we did hear some noises last night; It could have been a mouse, or two.”
My uncle had a big smile on his face not able to bring himself to laugh, but his grin said it all.
A Merry Christmas to you all.
These are some great Christmas memories. I enjoyed reading the story and could easily picture the action. Thanks for sharing.