My grandfather and one of my uncles worked on the fuses, but the delay didn’t concern the singers. Everyone took a turn to lead a song and hold the special candle. “Whoever holds the candle has to start a new song!” “Let’s pass a candle around,” one of the great-aunts said.
Someone else rummaged for candles, and soon a soft glow filled the living room. Grandpa Armand began his growling rant and went to rummage in the dark for a fuse. Then a helpful someone turned on the dishwasher to give Grandma a hand with the dishes.Ī few seconds later, we were plunged into darkness and silence. Someone had cranked up the hi-fi stereo until it blasted out Christmas tunes as we continued to visit. On Christmas night, we were finishing up a day of stuffing ourselves with goodies and had spent the day enjoying the snow outside, passing around my five-month-old baby sister, and somehow assembling the whole mob of us into a group for a family photo. The Christmas tree glowed with lights in front of the picture window with its view of snow-covered Mt. Lights blazed in every room (occupied or not). Gagnons always celebrate large and loud-just like any good French Canadian family. We never had “silent nights” during Christmas at my grandparents’ house in South Hadley, Mass. As the oldest grandchild, I’d get to sleep on the living room couch and would get the privilege of falling asleep looking at the beautiful Christmas tree in front of the window.
I’d just turned 10 and I was very excited to be spending Christmas at my grandparents’ house. With Christmas being a week away, I thought I’d share one of my favorite Christmas memories, from Christmas of ’77.