Christmas
was always celebrated as a time for family, food, and fun in Wilton and
Princess Cheatham’s household. During the years of the Great Depression
(1929-1939), even though times were hard, Wilton and Princess made what they
did have work for their family.
My maternal
grandmother, Ellistine, was the eldest of her six siblings. She remembers that
on Christmas morning, she would wake up and have a peppermint stick and either
an apple or an orange laying at the foot of her bed. Under the Christmas tree
were homemade gifts lovingly sewn by her mother. On Christmas Eve, while her
children were sleeping, Princess would decorate the Christmas tree. What a
wonderful surprise for her children to wake up to see a beautifully decorated
tree with homemade gifts underneath. My grandmother said that she and her
siblings would suck on their peppermint sticks all day long!
Even though
the Cheatham family did not have much, the cherished time spent together was
more important than all the expensive gifts in the world.
It seems
like Christmas back then meant more because they had less and all they had was
their family. Versus Christmas today, where all we want are gifts and lots of
them. Let’s get back to the basics and make Christmas not be about the gifts we
get, but the gift of family, love, cherished memories, and serving others.
This is a sweet memory! It was so hard during the depression for families to live. My grandparents were fortunate that my grandather worked, but it was still hard.
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