Readers share their favorite Christmas memories

Twelve siblings gather several times each year to celebrate faith and family

By Margaret Thielking (Special to The Criterion)

I come from a large family of 13, with one sister no longer with us. There are six boys and six girls left.

In late October every year, we get together to plan our family holidays.

Our parents are now gone, and we want to continue to stay close together.

When we were younger, a shed was built for my dad and brothers for them to cut wood, stay warm and eat lunch.

Little did any of us know that this shed would be such a comfort, a joy and a place for us to forever call “home.”

Our parents’ picture still hangs in the shed, and we are blessed that they are with us in spirit while we still put our shed to good use.

For 10 years now, my siblings and I have been celebrating a tradition that we call “Christmas in the Woods.”

Our first Christmas celebration of the year—and by far my favorite—is during the first week of December.

We go to my brother’s woods, which is by his house. We build a big campfire, set chairs around for all 12 of us and have dinner.

The sisters take care of the food. The brothers bring the drinks and a door prize, which is a Christmas wreath that decorates the shed.

We also decorate the shed with lights outside, and a small tree with lights outside as well.

After dinner, we have a gift exchange. We are given two months to plan a special gift for whoever’s name we draw from a hat. Sometimes our gifts are serious and sometimes—well, oftentimes—our gifts are fun ones. We open them one at a time, enjoy a story then move on.

We then take a group picture in the woods, draw a name for our door wreath prize and spend the remaining time talking about old times as kids. This is a great way to catch up on all of our lives.

Two weeks after our “Christmas in the Woods” party, we celebrate Christmas at my sister’s home with our spouses.

Then, on Christmas Day, we all invite our children and grandchildren for Christmas together at my sister’s house again.

We enjoy lots of family time together, especially the 12 siblings during our “Christmas in the Woods” party.

We are so blessed to have such happy and healthy times with countless memories.

We are so thankful for our late parents, Leo and Ruth Amberger. Our strong faith keeps us together.
 

(Margaret Thielking is a member of St. Louis Parish in Batesville.) †