Once upon a child’s Christmas Eve …Recollections of Guyanese families

Dec 25, 2018 News

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By- Tracey T. Squires

Memories of childhood Christmases are often carried way into adulthood. Whether good or bad, they remain to act as either painful memories or beautiful recollections. For many the latter is a rarity.

Christmas is celebrated as a season where gifts and the receiving of gifts are in abundance; however, there are few who experience the season in contentment. Christmas Eve holds memories for children that last until adulthood. The lack thereof of material commodities for children at Christmas displays lessons of contentment that would touch the darkest of hearts. The significance of material assets at Christmas through a child’s eyes is proof that happiness truly cannot be bought.
Veronica Williams had sixteen children. She was a homemaker, her husband Brindslly Williams a police. Laughter and the presence of children were always in abundance and the lack of trendy toys was filled with games and stories. Sixteen children would be considered a lot in these times; however, this couple made it work.
Christmas, a holiday centered on gift giving was even more astounding for this family. For children in smaller households, new cars and dolls would be asked for, however, for children in such large families toys would have to be handed down. The late couple’s second eldest child, Ingrid Williams, stated that their household was not always filled with the fancy “playthings” that the neighbours would have, but they did not mind.
“I remember growing up as a child in the Williams family, my father would make sure that there was lots to eat and drink and that there was a toy that at least all of us can play with…I remember this car that my father bought… it was old but we did not see it that way. My brothers and I would take turns to push each other around the yard. I think it was bought second hand too, but Daddy knew that it would make us happy, “she said laughingly.
Christmas Eve, however, was a very special time for this family, especially for the children. The sisters, sitting together, recollected their younger Christmas Eves and what it was like for them to experience it with their parents. They recalled waiting at home, with each child, once old enough being assigned a different task, whether it was cleaning the windows or washing the carpets. They further added that they could not have remembered Christmas as a holiday focused on just receiving. The commonality that they all expressed was the contentment that they learnt through growing up in a large household.
“I can’t remember us having a tree; Christmas was all about happiness then… It still is for me. Nevertheless, back then as children we did not ask for the most expensive of toys, but we were happy whenever we received…it did not matter however small or inexpensive the item was, we were just happy to feel that special feeling. In retrospect, growing up in a large household taught us contentment,” said Cheryl Smith, another one of the Williams sisters.
A third sister, Deon Williams nodded in agreement.
The trio explained that as a Christmas Eve tradition, they would go caroling with members of the church after finishing up chores. They reminisced with much joy on the Christmas Eves that they had spent together as children. Recollections of a time now long gone brought much laughter to the group as they remembered fondly. While the family was very large and finances had to be stretched, the group made it quite clear that that did not mean that their Christmases were any less happy.
“I remember waiting for our father on Christmas Eve, our pepper pot would be on the stove and someone would always be making pickle onions. He would bring so many things… he would make ginger beer and our mother would bake our black cake… and we were happy. We got toys too, our aunt who lived in London always pitched in to make things extra special for us,” Cheryl stated.
Christmas Eve for this family was like a precursor for the greater event to come.
When asked about whether memories of childhood Christmas Eves had stayed with them, the trio all agreed that it did. The siblings who still keep in touch are scattered across the globe.
“I think it did, I think we all do… it is such a special time for children and whether good or bad these memories stay with you, and you don’t need a whole lot of money to make happy memories either… it’s that love,” Deon stated.
In juxtaposition, to Charles Dickens’ character Ebenezer Scrooge in “A Christmas Carol” there is proof that happiness truly cannot be bought through material things. The work conceptualized money, happiness, and its effects on persons. Children do not need much to be happy and this was seen through the recollections of the Williams children. Dickens’ character placed much weight on the ideology of always “having” rather than giving as much people do in the Christmas season. Scrooge did not realize that happiness, an abstract property did not equate to finances or material assets.
Nonetheless, families at Christmas are not confined to just one type or size. Eliza Banneker, a new mother has now started a family of just two. This will be her first Christmas as a young mother and what is clear is that she never expected to find herself with a child this Christmas. When asked about how special Christmas Eve is to her, she related that she never grew up with a close-knit family and that Christmas Eve was just another day where she would look at other children with their families sharing that love. Banneker is determined to not have her child experience Christmas in that way.
“I grew up seeing neighbours and friends on Christmas Eve cleaning and all that, but I didn’t grow up that way…we were financially okay as a family but my parents never saw all that as important… things were always strained and Christmas wasn’t all that for us as children,´ Banneker said.
Her goal is to have her daughter share the same fond memories and share in the love of the season.
The innocent eyes that a child often views Christmas from are beginning to dissipate in adults and the “hustle and the bustle” is becoming all that the holiday is known for. The spirit of Christmas that so many talk about is not actually fading away, it is what we see as important that is transforming.

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