Thursday, November 08, 2007

Holidays! How were they celebrated by our ancestors ? I wonder. I do remember that Easter was a big celebration, and as you know our acadian ancestors were very faithful to their religion. On good Friday, it was forbidden to eat meat. I remember in my earlier years, that at 3pm on Good Friday, we had a moment of silence. So when my late husband and I used to go driving ,at three pm we both would keep quite for a few minutes. (that was a hard thing for me to do.grin).
For Easter ,we needed a new hat. That was the style way back then, a new outfit and a new hat. I kept up the tradition for a long time. Easter Sunday we went to church, and back then we went on Sunday,today we go on Saturdays. When my son was little , he has his new outfit and an easter basket, and lots of goodies.
Our Easter meals were always Baked Ham. Our Ancestors would have no problem cooking a ham, they had all kinds of pigs. smile.
Christmas was another holiday, I remember my mother telling me,that when she was little, her father would be away working and he would always make it home on Christmas Eve. They would go out and cut their tree. Mom said they decorated it with whatever they could find, colored ribbons ,rags, paper, and so on. And Mom said she remembers getting an Eaton's Beauty Doll, now this would be back around 1927or 1928. She said her father made sleds for the boys.
I remember one christmas ,we had a camp in St.Louis and my sister in law was down from Ontario, so we decided to spend christmas at our camp. We went and got our tree in the woods, let me tell you I was some glad to get back to camp. The snow was nearly up to my waist at some spots, and it sure got tiresome trudging through that snow. But we did, and decorated our tree. Had our Christmas Turkey , we had an electric stove, because we had electricity. And then it was time to go back to the city. So we roughed it for once. I love the smell of a real tree but they are so messy to clean up ,so this year I will put up an artificial one.
Mom said my grandmother hung stockings up for them, and Mom said they always contained, walnuts, one apple, one orange, candies. My grandmother used to shop all year long for gifts, she had 8 children, she bought for her eight children, their spouses, and their kids. I looked forward to my gift from my grandmother even if it was just a hankie, it had come from her.
As you know this year some members of my genealogy group acadianroots exchanged names for gifts. I have bought my gift for the name I picked, and this is making me feel good, because this person will be receiving a gift from someone she has never met personally, and I am hoping that she will be pleased.
So in ending today's blog, and speaking of holiday. Soon it will be Thanksgiving for the United States, and I do hope you all have a safe, and Happy Thanksgiving Day with all your loved ones.
Have a great day
Aline

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