The Christmas Tradition

In the Solomon household, we have, like many other families, our own holiday traditions that we must keep, because it's The Law. Such traditions include running around like maniacs on Christmas Eve (although I personally tend not to do that - that's what Amazon is for, darnit - the exception being that I decided to bake oatmeal cream cheese butterscotch bars, so I needed to run to the grocery store today for a few items); wrapping presents; doing the last minute baking or decorating of baked goods (frosting the cookies; making marzipan for the fruitcake); going to Midnight Mass. (A number of years ago, the first year I moved out of my parents', I was living in downtown Allentown, where my parish was the seat of the diocese, so Mom, Oma, and I went; the bishop was the main celebrant. This was a glorious Mass; all the stops had been pulled out.)

Most importantly, it's time for decorating the tree (generally after dinner) while listening to Johnny Mathis. Apparently soon after they got married, my father introduced my mother to the requirement of listening to Johnny. Mom, of course, threw up her hands in despair but couldn't talk to Dad out of it, so the tradition has stuck for the duration of their marriage (40 years this year). Justin and I used to groan each year, of course - was Johnny Mathis ever cool? - but now it's part of the tradition; Justin especially has grokked on this and has been known to insist on said music even when Dad expressed ambivalence.

The only thing that disappointed me during my visit to Salt Lake last week was that I didn't have any Johnny Mathis in my iTunes collection, the result of which being I couldn't indoctrinate Ed; the poor guy doesn't know what he's signed up for. Today I found two of Johnny Mathis Christmas collections and imported them into iTunes, so next year I'll be better prepared.