Throughout the years from 1970 to 1990's, most family gatherings took place at our home. That's not saying that we didn't gather at other family homes. During the early years Christmas was spent at both our parents. The children were young and went everywhere we went. At that time, we lived in Winnipeg and that necessitated that Christmas day was spent split between the two families. Dinner was spent at one place and supper was at the other. On Christmas day it was a guarantee that we would all be stuffed with food and loaded down with gifts. Every one received a gift that was there that day.
Every so often, gatherings would take place at Yvonne and Bob's home. Bob would get out his barbeque and in the middle of winter, start the barbeque up, even if it snowing outside. One year Bob gave Yvonne a picture window. He fired up the chain saw and began cutting an area on the south wall of the house. I have never known anyone to put in a window this way. It was probably a mild winter as the south side of the house had this big hole in it. We couldn't believe what was happening. Next thing we knew there were the men lifting into place this big picture window. I always remember that day, food, family and friends and memories. The tables were always piled high with food and at times we would all bring a dish of some kind to help out. Meals were rarely a sit down at Yvonne and Bobs place, there were never enough chairs to go around, so we sat wherever we found a place to sit.
Easter was usually at our place, one year all the brothers and sisters gathered together. We had a big house and somehow found a way to sit everyone at the tables. This one year the men began to play cards, an usual event that happened at a gathering, and a drink or two on the table beside them.
I was doing the dishes and had placed the meat carving board, with those spikes on it, on a chair until I could get around to clean it and had shoved the chair under the table. Ron came out to the kitchen to refresh his drink and before I could say anything pulled the chair from the table and sat down on top of the meat cutting board. A new dance was invented as he sprang up two feet off that chair and danced, skipped and hopped around the kitchen holding his rear with one hand. A new vocabulary was also developed that day. Today I laugh my self silly over it. I couldn't laugh then or he would have conked me over the head with something as he certainly did not find it funny.
We played a lot of card games, mostly poker and a game I forget the name for. We laid three cards face down on the table. Well now if I haven't done gone forgot how it was played. If we happened to meet during the summer, everyone vacated the house to the outside. Later, we had family and friends gatherings and potlucks and barbeques.
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