Sherry Chapmanby Sherry Chapman
First published in November/December, 2007, Volume 4, Issue 4, The Hatchet: Journal of Lizzie Borden Studies.
It’s nearin’ Christmas thyme again, and I’ll tell you I could just as well do without the way the Borrdens celebrate. They just ain’t merry like I’ve always been used to with my family. Miss Lizzie calls Mr. Borrden “Scrooge,” whatever she means by that. Mr. Borrden don’t know what it means, either, but every time she says that he threatens to cut off her allowance. That shuts her up pretty fast.
I don’t get Christmas off until the dinner is finished and on the table. That’s not such a bad thing. Mrs. Borrden and the girls are usually in the kitchen with me, makin’ cookies or some other such fare. And durin’ this thyme of the year they are in good moods, so it’s pleasant workin’ with them. They anticipate Christmas in this house. I do not.
Every year Mrs. Borrden asks the Mister for a sealskin cape. Miss Lizzie told her Da that they don’t make them in her size. So every year he gets her a big box with a dowdy dress he gets Mrs. Raymond to make. Mrs. Raymond has been makin’ clothes for this household for a long time and knows Mrs. Borrden’s measurements. Mrs. Borrden gets a hurt look on her face, and the girls giggle behind their hands, knowin’ she can hear them.
Mr. Borrden is generous to his daughters on Christmas. One year he gave Lizzie the Grand Tour, and another a sealskin cape. (I think that hurt Mrs. Borrden terribly -the most of all.) He gives Emma always a substantial amount to a charity he knows she is fond of and new gloves and shoes. Black of course. That is about the only color she wears. I can’t figure it out … unless she is still mournin’ her mother – or wants Mrs. Borrden to know there was once another Mrs. Borrden – their one and only mother she will never replace.
Mr. Borrden always puts on the girls’ gift tags that the stuff is from both he and his wife, but the girls do not acknowledge her in their thank you’s. They get both their Da and step-mother homemade things, citing they have no income of their own. They put both parents’ names on the tags. The packages usually contain a Christmas ornament or something else that Mrs. Borrden cannot use around the house to ease her financial load.
Mrs. Borrden used to get the girls a nice piece of jewelry from Gifford’s, but after years of still not winning their love, or even their like, she just let Mr. Borrden add her name as a joint giver of the girls’ gifts. I dunno if she gave Mr. Borrden anything. I don’t think she did, which saved the family money and made him as happy as if she had gotten him somethin’ great. I don’t repeat gossip, so I hope ya lissened carefully.
My family is so different. We dance, we eat lots of good Irish cookin’, we laugh heartily, we do drink (maybe that’s why we laugh so much) – nothing quiet or demure about us. And we like it that way. Our memories are built by our get togethers, and they are unforgettable. Like I can still remember my cousin Sean at Thanksgivin’ this year:
Sally was driving home from one of her business trips in Northern Ireland when she saw an elderly woman walking on the side of the road. As the trip was a long and quiet one, she stopped the car and asked the woman if she would like a ride. After a bit of small talk and while resuming the journey the woman noticed a brown bag on the seat next to Sally. What’s in the bag?” asked the woman. Sally looked down at the brown bag and said, “It’s a bottle of wine, I got it for my husband.” The woman was silent for a moment. Then speaking with the quiet wisdom of an elder she said: “Good trade.”
Well, ‘tis time we get ourselves into the kitchen. Here’s a recipe tha’tis my own, and I find that people enjoy it be it Thanksgivin’, Christmas or any day of the year.
Cranberry Sauce with Bourbon
Ya only need three ingredients for this:
12 ounces of cranberries
4 cups of sugar
½ cup bourbon
Heat up yer oven to a moderate temperature (350 degrees). Stir yer ingredients together. Put it in the oven for an hour. Stir once in a while. This tastes best when it’s had time to sit, maybe two weeks. The longer it sits, the stronger the flavors. Store in the ice box – I wanna say ‘indefinitely’ but don’t eat if the cranberries are green and fuzzy.
I’ll leave ya with this:
During the coming
Christmas season
May you be blessed
With the spirit of the season,
which is peace,
The gladness of the season,
which is hope,
And the heart of the season,
which is love.
