We had our annual family Lucia celebration last week. Here are scenes from the day:
The dresses, ribbons, and crowns are laid out on a bed, awaiting the girls. Some of the gowns are handsewn, more than 50 years old, and were worn by me when I was young. Somewhere along the way, as things were passed down through the generations, the original crowns from Sweden, which held real candles, were lost. Now there is just a cheap battery operated crown (made in China), and tinsel garland crowns. Usually I have my girls make crowns with cedar branches, but that didn't happen this year.
The girls get dressed and try to decipher great aunt Ruth's handwriting. A is chosen to read the story of Lucia this year, and she is stumbling over the words.
We all go over the lyrics for the Santa Lucia song.
Two moms direct, while I photograph.
"She'll go down first and read, then you lead the others down the stairs..."
A enters the room where the extended family is gathered, and begins reading. The other girls are up the stairs around the corner, giggling.
A reads as best she can, while my cousin's wives assist her with deciphering the handwriting.
The recitation complete, the singing begins, and the rest of the girls sweep down the stairs with plates full of cookies.
Little K offers you a cookie! I recommend the dark chocolate shortbread stars from Trader Joe's! I know, I should have baked cookies, but Trader Joe's made it too easy for me to cheat.
Our 6 Lucia girls for 2011, ages 9 to 15.
My cousin, who is a year older than I am, reminisces about the Lucia celebrations past, when the boys had to wear gowns and participate as well. They were called "Star Boys" and carried wands with a star on the tip, and wore red cone hats. They boys dreaded it, but were threatened with not getting anything from Santa if they didn't cooperate.
After the sugar from the cookies took effect, and the girls had changed back into their party dresses, the kids began a spirited game of "find the leader," where one person leaves the room while a leader is selected, and then returns to the room to find all the kids in a circle making the same movements. Suddenly the gestures would change, and the "it" person had to determine who was leading the changes. Hilarious to watch!
The dog complains that with the kids so much older now, there isn't as much dropped food for him to score. Only one slice of ham made it to the carpet and quickly into the dog's stomach. Like all families, there is an ebb and flow of reproduction. Right now all the adults are finished having babies, and the oldest kids are still a decade away from starting their own families, so things will be more sedate each year for awhile. I remember when I was a teen, and how boring the family parties became without little ones scampering about. Then, my cousins started having kids, and I had mine, and suddenly there were babies and toddlers everywhere again.
Although we all live within 45 minutes of each other, we never seem to get together except in December. It's fun to see how the kids have grown and changed in a year's time. I'm grateful that we carry on these traditions and are still in touch.
Ironically, this branch of the family is on my dad's side, but he is never invited. At the party are my mother (his ex-wife), and the widows of his two deceased brothers, and their children with their spouses, the grandchildren, a new husband for one of the widows, and some in-laws, extended family, and friends. This tradition of celebrating Santa Lucia with my dad's side of the family was started in the 50's by my dad's sister's husband's mother. She hosted for nearly 40 years, then there were about 10 years when nothing happened because no one dared to try throwing the big party she was famous for, and we didn't have any young girls in the family to be Lucias anyway. Eventually sentimentality crept in, little girls were born, and my aunt and cousin's wife and I revived the tradition. It will never be as grand as Aunt Bardy's Lucia, but we carry it on in her honor.
There I am at age 4, at the far right, in 1973. Fond memories.
Some of my cousins, celebrating Lucia in the 1960's.
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