Jammin' Along: The Old Folks Party

For as long as I can remember my grandmother and her six brothers and sisters have had a Christmas party the week or so before Christmas. This was a party that we all lovingly referred to as the Old Folks Party.

This party was always held at my Grandmother Jensen's house in Mt. Pleasant. After her home was burned down, it was at my Grandmother's house up the street in Mt. Pleasant and then back to Uncle Hal's house when he built a home down on Grandmother Jensen's property.

After Hal passed away they moved the party to Salem to my Aunt Doreen's home. Which overlooks beautiful Salem pond. They light it all up for the holidays. It is so beautiful and festive. They have horse drawn carriage rides around the pond which wonderful to put you in the holiday mood.

Now as I remember this party used to be only for the brothers and the sisters and their spouses. However, as this generation has begun to pass away they have began to invite the children and grandchildren if they would like to attend.
I love to attend this party and yesterday's party was wonderful. They have a dinner and a white elephant gift exchange. My cousin Lisa came up with the idea to have all of the sisters and my Aunt Vonda and Uncle Devon (They are the only spouses left) record their favorite Christmas memory. I was kind of surprised that they all came up with the same cherished memory.

My Grandmother grew up on a farm in Axtell, Utah with her two brothers and four sisters. Her parents owned their farm as well as a cafe and ran the post office. Although they were not well off they never went without.

My Aunt Amoir, the eldest of the sisters, shared this story. . .

They had gone to church on Christmas morning and were all excited and talking to their friends about what they had recieved for Christmas. One of the families children talked to them how Santa wasn't real because he didn't come to their house at all. Apparentley. the father was a bit of a drinker and had spent all of his money drinking and didn't pick up the Christmas layaway. Anyway, when the kids got home and told Grandmother Jensen about what had happened they all chose one of the three gifts they had received, put them in a box, with goodies and candies. My Great Grandmother then put a note on it that said " Santa hadn't forgotten about them. They were just such special children that it had taken him a bit longer to put there Christmas together. " My Grandfather then took it to the home, knocked on the door, and left it on the box on the doorstep.

As my Aunt was telling this story I looked around at the other four sisters, with tears in their eyes they all were shaking their heads and agreeing that this was their most precious memory. I now know where we all got our strong desire to be compassionate and help others and what a marvelous example to learn from. These stories go on and on in our family. I am so grateful that Mason is able to hear these stories and learn how important it is to help out others.

We told other stories and sang Christmas Carols on into the evening. It was a wonderful party full of great memories we can all cherish and hold us over until the next time we meet again.