Reflecting on long lives so far lived, the retirees sitting around the wooden table with the holiday centrepiece at the Shannon Falls Retirement Residence speak most happily of fun family moments of Christmases past.
In a cosy room decked out with a Christmas tree beside a fireplace, The Squamish Chief sat down with several seniors who live at Shannon Falls for a wide-ranging chat about all things related to the holiday season.
The glitter of the season
Just days ago, Fred Downs moved to Shannon Falls to be closer to family in Squamish.
He was born and raised in Calgary and has since lived in New Westminster and Nanaimo, among other places.
He likes the glitter of the holiday season, he said, and has already gone and bought himself a little tree and set of lights for his apartment.
"But mostly [the holiday] provides a good meeting of folks—of family friends. And that's the best part of it," he said.
He celebrated Christmas a couple of times in Scotland with the family of his late wife.
Many of the traditions common in Canada were done there too, he said.
"Christmas is based on the English-Scottish kind of traditions, so, it's very similar in the sense of a tree goes up and [there’s] presents," he said.
As a kid, he relished the stockings over other gifts, he said.
"Sometimes presents were predictable because you needed a new jacket or you needed some particular thing that arrives at Christmas, but stockings were always the charm because there's all this candy and junk and you never know what's in the bottom," he said.
Chilly Christmas dip
A cherished memory from a childhood Christmas for Bob Callaghan involves a cold plunge.
"After the war. We moved from Prince Rupert back down to Vancouver, and there were no homes, so we had a cabin on Bowen Island," he recalled. The cabin was bare bones, with no electricity or running water, he added, but the family moved there for two years, when he was in grades 8 and 9.
"We had a blast. I don't think my mother did," he said, with a laugh.
"So, Christmas Day, I think I was in Grade 8 ... my father got the idea, let's go swimming. So, we lived over at what they called Miller's Landing and my sister and I and my dad went down ... and went into the waters of Howe Sound on Christmas Day."
He said that he recalls believing in Santa as a child and, in some ways, still does.
"It is goodness in people," he said.
Asked about favourite memories of his time as a father and husband over the holidays, Callaghan recalled a tradition with his late wife.
"On Christmas Eve, when the kids were all in bed, and everything was done, my wife and I would sit down and have the Christmas tree lights on and have a glass of sherry, with homemade fruitcake, and just sit there and relax. We always did that," he said, adding he still does it on his own on Christmas Eve.
Logger Christmas tree
Dianne Valleau recalled her logger husband, of Valleau Logging in Whistler, was "really funny" about Christmas trees.
He would never cut more than one tree for Christmas, no matter what.
One year, the tree was so sparse Dianne suggested he cut another one that could more easily be decorated, but he refused, she recalled with a laugh.
He ended up drilling holes in the "Charlie Brown" tree and added branches to spruce it up.
"It really did turn out quite nice," she said.
The Valleaus had seven children, so it was always very busy over the holidays, especially for Dianne with baking and cooking.
"We had a big fireplace—we lived in Pemberton—and we used to hang up the stockings on it. We left the hooks up all year for those stockings. And, of course, with kids, then animals had to have some," she said.
She and others spoke of the importance of children learning the holiday is not all about what is gotten, but what is given.
She recalled that her boys attended St. George's School in Vancouver and the students put together hampers for those in need and delivered them.
“It really, really sunk in with them,” she said.
Valleau also reminisced about growing up in Victoria and her grandma coming to the door every Christmas morning with a lump of coal.
The residents all recalled turkey dinners, delicious shortbread and pudding as favourites from meals of the past.
Baking galore
Rhona Levine recalled cutting out paper dolls to hang on the Christmas tree, and her mom having baked goods ready on Christmas Eve.
"Mom would bake when we were in school and then bring them out on Christmas Eve, so you never had a cookie until Christmas Eve."
She said, living in North Vancouver then, the family cut down a real tree, though she didn't know where exactly they went to get it.
She still has a doll she received for Christmas as a child. She keeps it in her current apartment.
"Mom knit clothes for it," she said. "She made little socks and a knitted dress and a bonnet. I've still got that in my closet."
Asked about her favourite gift she received as an adult, Levine said anything from her children, whether they made it or baked it, and even if it "was God awful," to her, "It was the most beautiful thing you saw."
Magic is in people, not the day
Asked what perhaps they don't like about the holidays, Downs said expectations can get too high for Christmas Day and put a damper on it.
"I think there's a real danger of it being over the top in the sense of what people's expectations are. I think that if you keep a realistic view of what it is; it's a nice holiday, but it's not going to solve the world. A lot of people think that this is a magic date. The magic is in the people getting together. The magic is not in the date," he said, to nods of agreement from fellow residents.
The residents each have plans to see family over the holidays or enjoy the Christmas brunch at Shannon Falls.
