We were getting together with family.
Family affair
I didn’t know it then, but my parents had moved from my Dad’s family farm by Brooks to the Coaldale area in 1964, in part, to be closer to my mom’s family. Her parents, my Opa and Oma Jetz, lived in Lethbridge as did her sister, my Aunt Joanne Schurman, her husband my Uncle Ed, and their children, my cousins Nina and Carl. Not far up the road from our farm, a little south and east, was my Mom’s older brother my Uncle Witold Jetz, his wife my Aunt Lotta, and their children my cousins Gary and Doris. The oldest son, Vern, lived in Calgary.
I didn’t know it then, but my parents had moved from my Dad’s family farm by Brooks to the Coaldale area in 1964, in part, to be closer to my mom’s family. Her parents, my Opa and Oma Jetz, lived in Lethbridge as did her sister, my Aunt Joanne Schurman, her husband my Uncle Ed, and their children, my cousins Nina and Carl. Not far up the road from our farm, a little south and east, was my Mom’s older brother my Uncle Witold Jetz, his wife my Aunt Lotta, and their children my cousins Gary and Doris. The oldest son, Vern, lived in Calgary.
We would rotate among our place, my Aunt Joanne’s in Lethbridge, and my Uncle Witold’s farm for Christmas.
It was always a family affair.
On the road
Uncle Ed and Aunt Joanne’s was always my favourite place to go, not just at Christmas, buy any time. They lived in the city, far from the isolation of the farm. They had cable TV, but they also had something much more important – my cousin Carl. I just idolized him, wanted to be like him, and loved to play games with him.
Uncle Ed and Aunt Joanne’s was always my favourite place to go, not just at Christmas, buy any time. They lived in the city, far from the isolation of the farm. They had cable TV, but they also had something much more important – my cousin Carl. I just idolized him, wanted to be like him, and loved to play games with him.
We would get to Lethbridge around 11 a.m. or 11:30 a.m., long enough to get comfortable, catch up on what we all got for Christmas, and usually play with the new stuff. Sometimes I would bring one of my new toys, but not always.
Carl got into music. I recall one year listening to one of the records he got for Christmas – “Hotter than Hell” by Kiss.
Then it was time for dinner. This long table would be set up, usually consisting of a number of tables, where the adults ate. The kids – me, Nina, Carl and Doris – would either be seated at the end or have our own “kids’ table”. It was kind of like a scene out of “The Waltons”.
We always had turkey but I also recall ham. There was mashed potatoes, various vegetables, often purple cabbage which went very well with gravy, and stuffing. There was never any danger we’d run out of food. The one thing I will always remember is having a glass of “Baby Duck”, this sparkling, carbonated wine. One year, Uncle Ed brought “Baby Bear”, which tasted the same to me. I’m guessing it was some sort of knock off.
After we ate, it was back to playing with my cousins, although we were all slowed as the process of digestion took hold.
An outstanding memory I have is playing games. With Nina, Carl and Doris it would be “Monopoly”, “Clue”, or “Stock Ticker” mostly. Sometimes our older cousins would play “Rummoli” or some other card game, and that was fun. Later, as the ‘80s progressed, Doris got “Trivial Pursuit”, and Nina, Carl and I got handheld video games such as “Merlin”; “Wildfire” which was a pinball game; “Mattel Hockey”; “Mattel Baseball”; and I think they even had “Simon”.
Country cousins
Going just up the road to Uncle Witold’s was a different experience. I was generally there more often anyway. It was so close, it was easy to get a lift from my parents and, later, I could ride my bike over. For a lot of years we just swapped back and forth between our place and Uncle Ed and Aunt Joanne’s. Uncle Witold was renovating their house and they said it wasn’t in shape to host that many people.
Going just up the road to Uncle Witold’s was a different experience. I was generally there more often anyway. It was so close, it was easy to get a lift from my parents and, later, I could ride my bike over. For a lot of years we just swapped back and forth between our place and Uncle Ed and Aunt Joanne’s. Uncle Witold was renovating their house and they said it wasn’t in shape to host that many people.
Before the renovations, I do recall they too had a long table with all the adults around it, and us kids at the end. Again, there was no end of food. My Mom and my aunts were all good cooks
I recall one Christmas when my cousin Vern showed up with a beard, the first time I had ever seen that. His younger brother Gary sported a long, bushy beard. Doris told me when Gary saw Vern come through the door, all he said was, “Cheap imitation.” I laughed.
Another Christmas, we went over there and they were watching some music videos Doris had taped off “Good Rockin’ Tonite’”. It had to be from there because my uncle and aunt’s farm was also served by the rural cable network. I walked into the living room and “Sentimental Street” by Night Ranger was on. Cathy, my cousin Vern’s wife, said she read that song was voted the worst video. In the same article, she said the best video was “Centrefield” by John Fogarty.
Yet another time, everyone was in the kitchen talking except Vern. He was sitting in the living room by himself, likely just taking a bit of a break. I went in there and had the longest, coolest conversation about hockey and football and so much more. I remember asking him if he heard who drafted Dan Marino. He responded he didn’t even know who the Flames drafted. Vern was preoccupied because Marino is a football player. A few years ago, Vern told me he had a similar conversation in the same setting with my Mom, and raved about how much she knew about so many different subjects.
Another time, my sister was just getting into photography. She was setting up Nina to take a picture of her. I was horsing around and not only jumped in front of the camera but did so with flair, like I was signaling touchdown. Even then I thought it was a bit of a dick move. When Barb got her pictures back from developing a few weeks later, both her and Mom thought it was a great photo of me. They forgot what actually happened. All I could see in the photo was Nina behind me trying to pose – and laughing.
Beyond these stray thoughts, I don’t have a lot of memories there, because we didn’t actually do Christmas there very often.
Home game
Hosting Christmas was another thing altogether. Instead of going when we wanted, I had to wait for my cousins to come. I loved having them over, and really wanted to spend time with them especially Carl.
Hosting Christmas was another thing altogether. Instead of going when we wanted, I had to wait for my cousins to come. I loved having them over, and really wanted to spend time with them especially Carl.
At our place, Mom set up a long table – it was actually three tables end to end – stretching from the edge of our kitchen right through into a bit of the living room. We had a long house, so it was perfect for this. My Mom never thought so, always claiming our house was too small to host that many people. Her bigger worry was running out of water. We had to haul it in, so we were careful when to flush the toilet. My city cousins were used to flushing the toilet at will, so my Mom’s worry was real. I recall more than once, after everyone went home, my sister asking Mom if we ran out of water. We never did.
I do recall playing games with my cousins, the same ones we played at their houses. What I remember best was when I got Intellivision. One year, it was when I was in Grade 6, I borrowed “NFL Football” from my classmate Kimbo Pahara. Vern came over before the rest of his family, and really got into football. My Dad had a desk beside the room Intellivision was in, and Vern took a notepad off that desk to write down some plays he wanted to remember for the game. He also showed me how to shift defences pre-snap.
Another year, I borrowed “Advanced Dungeons and Dragons”, which was an adventure game, one of the first of its kind. By then, I had moved my Intellivision into my bedroom. About half a dozen of my cousins crowded in there watching as Vern advanced through various places finding treasure, food and weapons. It was pretty cool.
Parting thoughts
As we all got older, fewer and fewer cousins came. Carl was the first one to stop coming, choosing to hang out with his friends. The older ones came less frequently, partly because they married and had another family to visit as well.
As we all got older, fewer and fewer cousins came. Carl was the first one to stop coming, choosing to hang out with his friends. The older ones came less frequently, partly because they married and had another family to visit as well.
Eventually, the big gatherings stopped, but my parents and aunts and uncles kept getting together even if it was just for coffee in the afternoon. Family and staying connected was always very important to them.
That is what I will always remember best about Christmas – family.
Christmas Day was for family.
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