I have lots of fond memories of my grandparents but one of my very very favorite treasured memories is spending many Christmas Eve's with them.
About a week or two before Christmas, for several years, I always spent a day with Grandma and we would make wintergreen candies from scratch. These are mostly powdered sugar and water from what I recall - and you added some oil of wintergreen and red food coloring and rolled it out. After that, we always used the tops to salt and pepper shakers to cut out perfect little circles. They then went one by one onto big wax papered baking sheets and into Grandma's back room to cure.
Christmas Eve night my whole family and my grandparents and usually at least fifteen or more other family members (we're a huge family) would get together at their house. There was always a big table of snacks and usually sandwich fixins' and candies and nuts. We would all eat and then, every year my Grandpa and uncles would play their guitars and we'd all sing Christmas songs and hymns for probably a good hour or more. As a little child I loved this. As a pre-teen all that singing seemed a little corny, but you know as I grew up I looked so forward to "singing with the Buttons."
My Grandma Button passed away on December 11, 2008. The last time I saw her was a week or so before that. She was in her home on her couch and a lot of family members had come into town because we knew she was not going to survive. It was our evening to pretty much say our goodbyes to her. She was conscious but quiet for the most part. At some point someone suggested we sing for Grandma and about twenty or so adults and many of our children were jam-packed into Grandma and Grandpa's living room. We sang lots of hymns and some Christmas songs to try and comfort Grandma and she mouthed most of the words as she laid there listening.
My husband was ready to get our kids home and in their beds so we said our goodbyes and drove the 20 or so miles home. The minute we got in the driveway I decided I needed to go back. My husband took the kids inside and I headed back down to that house. I needed comfort as well. I needed to be there with my family and "sing with the Buttons."
After my Grandma passed away, my Grandpa took some time to really enjoy things. He did a lot of traveling and visited various places doing what he loved the most - spreading the word of God and singing.
After a triple bypass surgery complication in May of this year, my Grandpa spent several months in the hospital. He never got to go back home to his house, but he did go to be with his Lord and Savior on October 1, 2011. He had planned most of his funeral during his hospital stay and of course - there was lots of singing.
As Christmas draws near, I find myself thinking about them a lot - wishing I could flash back in time to make one more batch of wintergreen candies with Grandma, give both Grandma and Grandpa a big hug, and spend one more Christmas Eve "singing with the Buttons".
Click Here To View A Memory Slideshow - by Anna Yasharian
very nice i remember those nights
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