When I grew up, we never had a house. Until adulthood, I always lived in an apartment, and a second floor apartment at that too, which meant that any large gathering was nearly impossible, except for one year.
Holiday schedule
Every holiday season was pretty similar as far as family gathering was concerned: we were staying home for Christmas Eve, we would go to my maternal grandparents for Christmas day, and to my paternal grandparents for New Years day. My Mom had 4 siblings, which made for a large enough gathering (when you added the spouses and children), but my Dad had 10 siblings which made an even larger group. Both sets of grandparents lived in a house they owned, so they all had more space that we did.
Why not us?
My Mom wanted to invite the family over but with a 2 bedroom apartment, and a kitchen that could maybe accommodate 8 people (and no dinning room), how could she do it?
Not in the kitchen
Although most rooms in the apartment were pretty much the same size, my parents decided to be a bit creative, and they converted their bedroom into a dinning room. To me, it was a little odd as all the furniture had to be moved in my bedroom, except maybe for the very large dresser, which served as a side board for food. We must have borrowed something to create a longer table.
We all fit
I am not sure how many were sitting. At the time, I only had 4 cousins, so as we always did at my grandma, the kids were eating on a separate small table (maybe in the kitchen). I think my Mom organized another family gathering, years later when we were in a larger apartment (3 bedrooms), and I vaguely remember that the table was actually placed from the kitchen and extending in the hallway. Yes, my Mom was creative, but those were the only two family gathering that she held, especially since the family grew larger with the years and the apartment stayed the same size.
How about you? What kind of gathering do you remember from the holiday season (or other time)? Which one was special and why? Share your story in the comments below.
