“Home for Christmas”

by E Micheal Bablin

Wednesday, December 22. 9:30 pm, the youngest brothers go to bed after watching Rudolph the Red-Nosed reindeer and frosty the snowman on network television. The first sister and first brother stay up late and discuss Christmas presents and shopping. They’ll go to school tomorrow morning, the last day of classes before the Christmas holiday and Santa Clause.

A bus Departs Ames, Iowa 10:20 pm; The Second Sister is on this bus with her ticket in hand, which she passes to the driver, who will rip off half and hand her the rest. She is traveling from Ames, Iowa, to Davenport, Iowa. Chicago, Illinois. South Bend, Indiana. Cleveland, Ohio, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. New York City, and finally home to Amsterdam, New York. This trip home will take her thirty-seven hours, just in time for the Christmas holiday and Christmas eve dinner. She thinks of the rest of the family, the brothers and sisters putting up the Christmas tree. And wonders if the father bought it at Bob’s trees, where at a discount price of $3, you could walk into the woods and find a tree and cut it down yourself.

Thursday. December 23. The bus arrives in Davenport, Iowa at 1:22 am. The sudden stopping of a bus wakes up the second sister. They must change buses here to go to Chicago, so she takes her luggage with her as she goes into the bus terminal, except for the few travelers traveling late at night, she sits in a empty room. The cold winter air and clear sky remind her of snow and past Christmases. She hopes it’ll snow for Christmas. It had snowed a week before, about 6 inches, so there is snow on the ground, but the sky is still clear. The House on Ellsworth Street is silent, everyone sleeping. News reports say there’s a chance for snow on Christmas Day.

The bus departs Davenport, Iowa at 2:25 am, and back on the Interstate, she falls back to sleep again. Moving through the Illinois Prairie, the Stars are out, as she opens her eyes, she sees in the distance smoke rising from the few scattered homes along the road. Soon the kitchen chimney of Ellsworth Street will do the same. The two middle brothers come outside and wait for the van to drop off the Gazette newspapers. The house has two fireplaces and a wood-burning stove. Their task before they deliver newspapers is to light the kitchen stove fire, so the kitchen is warm for the morning.

Just before five O’clock in the morning, the Schenectady gazette van stops and drops off their newspapers at the corner of Ellsworth Street in Clizbe Avenue. They have 200 newspapers to deliver in the morning on a newspaper route inherited from their older brother and even their sisters’ delivered newspapers.

The bus arrives in Chicago, Illinois at 5:35 am. The second sister gets out to transfer to another bus again. This time, the bus terminal is a little more crowded as people are moving by getting ready for the morning. In Chicago, Christmas wreaths are everywhere, the sign of the seasons. The two middle brothers get home from delivering the papers in the morning. The kitchen is warm now. Slowly the house comes to life. The mother wakes up and gets ready for her workday. She drives to Albany thirty miles each way and works for the state of New York. The father gets up, starts up, and warms up the engine of her Toyota Corolla. He’ll also start the engine of the Chevy truck he drives to work at the Scotia naval depot. He’s got his football pools in for the weekend games. The third sister and the two youngest brothers get up and get ready for the school day. It’s the last day of classes before the Christmas holidays, and the breakfast talk is about presents. Who’s been nice and naughty, and will Santa Claus come this year? The mother talks about the second daughter on her way home, hopefully arriving safely.

Grandmother comes in right before Mother leaves for work. She’s watching the youngest brother, who doesn’t go to school yet, as the two brothers go to McClary Elementary. Another brother goes to middle school, and the third sister goes to high school and takes off. The grandmother will sit and prepare the Kucious, or the traditional Lithuanian Christmas Eve dinner.

At 10:30 am, the Second sister’s bus Departs Chicago, Illinois. It’s a cold morning. She sees smoke rising from chimneys everywhere. Crossing a country waking up to Christmas Eve, her bus slowly leaves urban areas and goes back into the vast expanses of Indiana Prairie, she thinks about her own home and Christmas.

At McClary Elementary school, the fourth brother is finishing his Christmas decoration he’s doing. He will place this on the Christmas tree tonight when they finish the decorating. The third brother listens to other friends talking about Santa Claus and which track he’ll take in class. And when he goes and leaves the North Pole, they’re apprehensive about this as the weather might get nasty.

At 5.45 pm the family decides to go shopping on Main Street in the afternoon. The parents tell the children that they can choose between two department stores – Woolworths and Grants. Excited about the prospect of toys, the children eagerly discuss what they might find at each store. The youngest brothers are excited about the possibility of getting new action figures or games. Estes rockets and motorized airplanes flying up in the air and walkie talkies are also a big hit this Christmas.  As they make their way to Main Street, the siblings talk about how much fun it will be to see all the festive decorations and lights. They also reminisce about past Christmases, remembering all the fun traditions they have as a family.

When they arrive at Main Street, they are overwhelmed by all the beautiful displays and decorations in each store. The first sister and first brother immediately head for Woolworths while the youngest brothers race towards Grants. Inside Woolworths, the siblings marvel at all the different toys and gifts on display. Meanwhile, at Grants, the youngest brothers are having just as much fun exploring all their options for action figures and games. They excitedly show each other their finds and can’t wait to take them home and play with them. After hours of shopping, everyone meets back up outside on Main Street with their purchases in hand. As they walk back towards home, they talk about how grateful they are to have such a close-knit family and how lucky they feel to have each other during this special time of year.

Back at home, The Christmas tree has already been brought inside but not decorated. The oldest brother will get the boxes in the attic filled with Christmas decorations from years past, Some hand made in kindergarten at McCleary elementary school. But they’ll wait and put them up.

At 7:35 pm, The second sister’s bus arrives in Cleveland, Ohio, where she’ll transfer again. It’s good to get off and stretch your legs before walking into another terminal filled with holiday travelers, students going home, and people returning to loved ones. Back at Ellsworth Street, the Third sister and the four brothers have finished setting up the Christmas decorations and tree. They put their wreath with Santa Claus on the doorway outside. They put on the outdoor and indoor lights. They put tinsel and Garland everywhere. Christmas bells hang suspended by the ribbon on top of the threshold between the dining and living rooms. All the boxes from the attic are empty. The house looks festive, and everyone’s getting in the Christmas Spirit.

The third sister will drive the three youngest brothers to Saint Casimir’s Church and practice the midnight mass procession. Father Balch the Lithuanian priest has a rehearsal every year before midnight mass, so all practice doing their best. They are altar boys, and the midnight mass procession is the most significant mass of the year. The midnight mass consists of at least two dozen altar boys and girls carrying various parts of the Nativity scene, setting up the holy Manger in front of the congregation, capped off by Father Balch. Singing Happy Birthday to Jesus Christ.

The second sister departs from Cleveland, OH, at 9:55 pm for another all-night bus ride. The sky is still clear and cold. The dry cold of the Prairie has been replaced by the damp chill of Lake Erie in the Great Lakes, and with that feeling, she knows she’s getting closer to home and her own Christmas. Back at Ellsworth Street, her father watches the news. There’s a chance of a storm coming from the South. But he thinks the second sister will miss the worst if She is home by Christmas Eve afternoon.

She arrives, In Pittsburgh, PA, at 11:00 pm. This time, she can transfer to another bus. A few more passengers get on. The same bus will be driving through the night to New York City. The bus driver takes a few more tickets from other people as they put their bags away, mainly students. And that bus departs Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at 11:53 pm.

 December 24, Christmas eve, and the second sister’s bus arrives in New York City, New York 7:35 am. The House on Ellsworth Street repeats the same tasks it did the previous morning. However, there is palpable excitement in the air. Tonight is Christmas Eve. The youngest brother reminds the father to put the light out. The special light is placed near the living room window to shine outside to guide Santa Claus, so he’ll come to their house. The mother goes to work for half a day, but there will be an office Christmas party where she invites Annette to come over and visit. She’s a coworker who lives alone and doesn’t have a family. The father will work all day and ask the Wilsons to come over for the weekend.  

After the traditional Lithuanian dinner, or Kucios, the children will be opening Christmas presents. Santa’s presents will come on Christmas day.  It’s a long day as all will attend Saint Casimir’s midnight mass. On Christmas day relatives will come by friends will visit, there will be snow at that Christmas, as there always is, and they’ll go tobogganing at the Sanford farm. They’ll return for another Christmas meal with their family on Christmas Day. The house on Ellsworth Street will be a beehive of activity.

 Tonight is Kucios and Grandpa and Grandma will attend, and grandpa will say the Lithuanian prayers in his native tongue, the language the children understand only a little.

As the second sister departs New York City New York at 8:30 am, Grandmother and first sister work in the kitchen on the recipes for the traditional Lithuanian dishes. Grandmothers and mothers have prepared the Kugelis and all these Lithuanian dishes for generations. With her long journey finally over, the second sister steps off the bus in Amsterdam, NY, at 1:00 pm. The first sister will pick her up at the bus station downtown.

The second sister finally arrives at her hometown in Amsterdam, NY, where the rest of her family is waiting for her. She steps off the bus and sees her first sister waiting for her with a warm smile. They hug each other tightly, relieved that they are finally together again after being apart for so long.

As they make their way back to the house on Ellsworth Street, they catch up on all the things that have happened since they last saw each other. The first sister tells the second sister about their youngest brother’s latest accomplishments in school and how excited he is for Christmas. The second sister shares stories about her travels and adventures. When they arrive at their house, it is bustling with activity as everyone is busy preparing for the Kucios meal. The mother and grandmother are in the kitchen, carefully following traditional Lithuanian recipes to prepare dishes like Kugelis and Zrazai. The father is outside shoveling snow and setting up lights around the house.

Second sister shares in a delicious meal filled with traditional Lithuanian dishes. There is laughter, stories, and lots of food as everyone enjoys each other’s company. The next day on Christmas Day, more relatives stop by to exchange gifts and share a meal together. They go tobogganing at the Sanford farm like they do every year, braving the cold weather for some fun in the snow. As she looks around at her family, the second sister is filled with gratitude and happiness.

As night falls, everyone gathers around for Saint Casimir’s midnight mass. The beautiful singing fills them with joy and peace as they celebrate this special holiday together. She made it home for Christmas