Good Mornin’! Good Mornin’!
Ok, y’all its here. If it ain’t been bought and wrapped it will have to be a New Year’s gift. It’s Christmas Eve and hopefully everybody is ready and with family and friends to celebrate Jesus’ birthday. Growing up, Christmas Eve was always a quick family get together with plenty of Does Hot Tamales and plenty of other delectable snacks and creations. Christmas wrappings would fly through the air simultaneously as the youngest generation buzzed about the tree handing out packages in an assembly line that would make Henry Ford smile a bit.
Then it was over. The blur of gifts and thank yous, hugs and goodbyes. It was off to Inverness First United Methodist Church for a candlelight communion that was come as you are whenever you can make it. If it was dark, the hard-working volunteers would have the luminaries brought to life lining our wonderful little town and showing it off to everybody.
And if I timed it right, I’d meet up with Redigo Phillips at his parent’s house in Moorhead for a Phillips Family Christmas Eve.
The 40s music would be blasting on the record player and what seemed like hundreds of folks were all eating and smiling and laughing. Doc and Mrs. Phillips knew how to entertain. Basically, they threw open the doors, welcomed any and everybody and made sure they had a drink and something to eat.
It was just fun to watch them open their own gifts and get swept up in the energy. One year, Mrs. Phillips reached in the freezer and presented me with a large helping of her homemade Red Beans and Rice, a dish that there was almost never any leftovers. She knew how much I loved it and I’ll remember that for the rest of my life. It was an awesome Christmas gift. And as midnight crept closer, Mrs. Phillips would start reminding everyone that the Phillips were all going to midnight mass and to start wrapping things up. They’d all skedaddle and all the non-Catholics found their vehicles and headed back to their own homes.
Of all the traditions that surround Christmas, it’s the luminaries and the Phillips that I will always remember and cherish.
The luminaries continue to this day and all y’all need to get over there and ride through town and ooh and ahhh and try to capture them with your camera. I tried for years, even with a tripod but never got the magic on film. Just some blurry lit up sacks came back from Donald’s Drug Store where we got our film developed.
The Phillips clan has grown immensely and they all gather in separate parts of the south but I’m sure the magic of Doc and Mrs. Phillips is sprinkled over every get-together and there are smiles galore and stories regaling some of the original get-togethers. And I hope there’s a pot of Red Beans and Rice before, during or after to keep the Christmas cheer going. She did pass me the recipe over the phone a few years back, so maybe I need to fire up a pot.
Merry Christmas and Happy Jesus Birthday to all y’all!
