December 17, 1991: Busy Bees had Christmas dinner etc. at the Stop Inn."
Unfortunately, since we don't have the "Cousins' Christmas" any more, I haven't thought about it in some time. My best memory of that particular event was when I was little and Aunt Myrtle would bring gifts for all the kids. They were little gifts, nothing spectacular but I remember being so excited and appreciative of those offerings from Aunt Myrtle. Maybe because in my childs' mind, she was outside the immediate family and didn't "have to" give me a gift. Or it was just a ramping up of exciting events soon to come. I don't even remember the things she gave me; I just remember thinking it was really neat. By the time she stopped doing it, I was plenty old enough to understand what an undertaking that was for her -- to pick age-appropriate gifts for an ever-growing number of kids. It wasn't a gift for one of those Christmases but I still have and treasure the doll she made for me with duck feathers for a dress.
I've used it before, I think, but here's a photo with Aunt Myrtle in it. Left to right we have Aunt Irene, Aunt Myrtle, Uncle Elmer, Uncle Raymond, Jean, Grandpa, Grandma, and Aunt Helen.
Once upon a time in the olden days even the adults got presents. We drew names. Even the ones who didn't live around here had their names in the pot. This was when all the aunts were still alive. It seems to me that maybe just the women were in the name drawing. Don't know for sure. The kids had presents, too. Don't remember if they drew names or not. But it was always a good time.
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