A Very German Christmas

This year, marked the first year I spent Christmas away from my family.  And in this absence, I was able to better see and appreciate both my family’s and Martin’s family traditions, as contrasting as they may be.

My family’s traditions are best described as loving chaos.  On Christmas Eve (or this year, the pre-Christmas Eve dinner we had before we left), the house was filled with people, noise and laughter.   Before dinner Blake was riding his new wooden tricycle throughout the hallways, Cassidy was chasing down the two new kittens, my brother, mom and I were in the kitchen making raviolis while Granny supervised and my Dad “tested” the crab to make sure it was still good.  All of the guests were in and out of the kitchen grabbing drinks, making eggnog, sampling the appetizers and catching up on the past year.  

After the call to dinner and once everyone found a place, we enjoyed one quick moment of quiet while Grandpa said grace (unfortunately without the cousins there giggling under their breaths above clasped hands) before digging into the various bowls of ravioli, crab, salad and bread placed in front of us.    And true to tradition, the dinner didn’t end until the last individual called it quits and the quantities of crab eaten were compared.  After dinner, the heat from the fire that my Dad ensures is made every year regardless of the weather, was so powerful that the front door was opened and people were thankful for wearing layers.   This year, the night ended with Blake standing on his chair eating his ice cream dessert sometimes with his spoon, sometimes with his hands, but always without his pants on.  Overall, the event is marked by the noise and craziness that is filled with love and goodwill.

And just as Martin and I differ from almost every angle of life in appearance while our core values remain the same, I found that Christmas was no exception.  Martin’s family traditions are best described as refined joy.   The celebrations began Christmas Eve, with the family getting properly dressed (suits, ties and dresses) for coffee, cake and church.  Church, complete with choir, band, standing room only and the pastor who married us, was followed by a glass of champagne by the Christmas Tree at the Breuer house.  Dinner, at promptly 8pm, was a beautiful plated affair of beef stew in a star pastry puff complimented with wine and beer.  

Presents were opened that night following the Breuer family rules of having to roll a certain dice number in order to open a present…a great tradition that makes the event last longer and feel more special…unless you happen to never roll the lucky number and everyone ends up waiting on you at the very end to open all of your presents, which is what happened to me.  The night ended after plenty of beers and wine at 1am only shortly after Oma headed down to her apartment.   

Christmas Day and Second Christmas (our Boxing Day) were equally as nice, elegant and well-planned, with coffee and cakes around 3pm each day, dinners with friends and family around 8pm and plenty of beer and wine throughout.