How Will You Be Remembered?

My family hails from the hills of West "by God" Virginia and Christmas has always been a large family holiday with a house full of lovable characters. My sweet memories include cutting down our own tree from the woods on Christmas Eve, sledding down large hills and jumping off before we hit the road and "Santa"visits to neighbors with off-key carols followed by a stiff house-brewed beverage. I have always been impressed by my family's desire to give a gift, however small, to every cousin, great aunt and neighbor related in some way to our family ... no one gets left out. Many times, out of house-hold budget necessity, these gifts were hand-made in our kitchens.

These signature gifts have shaped my Christmas memories . . . these represent all that is wonderful about the holidays. Each gift offers a little piece of our family history: My Aunt Sally makes green and red sugar-coated hard candy in a glass candy bowl, my Nana is famous for her cranberry delight jello salad with Cool Whip & marshmallows and peanut butter fudge in tins, my Uncle Ted for his own deer-jerky, my Aunt Judy for her New York cheesecake, my Mom for her peanut butter balls, my Grandmother Sypult's was the maker of wonderful whoopee pies, Aunt Kate for her lovely decorated cookies that truly taste awful and my Uncle Barry's for his fruit pies with the wonderful crust on that rare occasion when he comes to visit. I treasure these annual home-made gifts from the heart as they have truly become part of our traditions. This is what we will be remembered for when we are long gone; our children and their children will remember these characters from their past by their quirky kitchen gifts. How will you be remembered by your family?