Our First Christmas as a Family of Five

Christmas 1989 – This is the first Christmas spent with all five of us; Ted is two months, Candace is seventeen months, Amanda is twenty-nine months,  Dorothy is twenty-four years old, and Brian is thirty years old. 

Looking at this photo, the realization of what how young we were when we had our kids really hits me.   Back in the 1980’s, it was normal, at least in the circle that we were in, to get married young and start having kids immediately, especially if the wife was not working.  I guess Brian and I took this “having babies” thing seriously, and birthed three two and a half years, not counting my miscarriage between Amanda and Candace.  Our parents thought we were nuts.  My father begged me to stop having kids.  Brian’s father told him that he was not using his head.  He was worried that we would continue birthing babies, without a thought to the rising costs of raising a family.  They did not know what we were we thinking, but I must admit, I did talk about having ten kids, but that was before I had any!

Today, I can honestly say that I am very happy that we had our three kids as close as we did.  It was not always easy, but I loved having the kids close together.  They’ve always had friends no matter where we lived.  Their closeness has continued into the present. I thank God that our kids love and care for each other as much as they do.  

Back to Christmas; Grandma Rabourn loves Christmas.  She did not care if we were not around for Thanksgiving or Easter, but Christmas has always been a totally different story.  When we first drove up to the house, the steamy windows always declared that mom had been cooking for hours.  Walking into her home, our noses were greeted with the aroma of turkey cooking in the oven, a large pot of carrots boiling on the stove, potatoes boiling in their own pot, and of course the large bowl of creamy noodles with chunks of brown meat in it.  I quickly learned to stay away from this bowl, because the meat is chicken gizzards and hearts.  YUCK!  On the center of the table always stood my favorite dish of Christmas -- Honey Baked Ham, and on the counter there were no less than three different pies, sometimes, even more.  This was never a day to diet, but rather to relax and enjoy the foods of the season.

After our noses were greeted by the wonderful smells of Christmas foods cooking, our eyes always started drinking in the colorful lights, tinsel and variety of Christmas bulbs and decorations.  If anyone was not already in the Christmas Spirit, the decorations around the house were enough to dissolve even the Grinchiest attitude into a smile, especially when present time started.  Brian’s parents passed out the gifts, and the paper started to fly.  Well, at least with Amanda, who knew to just rip away.  Candace was still in training, and Ted just sat there looking at us, as if to say, “Why are you so excited?”  Amanda and Ben knew the routine and got into the spirit of the event, tooth and nail.  Those were great times at Grandma and Grandpa Rabourn’s home; I will never forget as long as I live.

            Today, I look forward to the day when I get to be the Grandma buying way more presents than my grand kids really need.  I want it to be my turn to have kids to walk into the steamy windowed house, where their stomach practically gets full smelling dinner.  I earnestly desire a great big dining room table where my kids and their kids can sit and chat the festive day away.