Seafood, Sunrise, & One Last Stocking Stuffer
Christmas Eve is ladened with longing and expectation for Christmas Day.
As we face our first Christmas Eve without Gretchen, it carries an almost unbearable weight of hope as we celebrate Christ’s birth and all that it promises. I can’t help but think about our family traditions of seafood, sunrise, and stocking stuffers.
Seafood
Why seafood for Christmas Eve? We don’t eat it at home, so its special. It’s a light and uncomplicated meal in high contrast to the unrelenting feast of cinnamon rolls, egg dishes, red meat, and pies come throughout Christmas Day.
Christmas Eve 2017: This was Gretchen’s first with cancer, chemo, and no hair of her own. Gretchen’s parents came, so we went upscale with Costco king crab legs. (see photos below)
Christmas Eve 2022: What has now become the Naugle seafood tradition, Natalia made her homemade chowder with fresh clams. We then attended the service at Park Cities Presbyterian Church. (see photos below)
Sunrise
As a family, we often do sunrise things around important dates like Christmas and Easter. The most memorable was Christmas Eve 2013, 10 years ago. We woke up early, drove to Piestewa Peak, hiked in the dark, perched ourselves on a rocky outcrop, and waited in the cold. Have you ever waited in the dark, impatient for the sun to breakout across the horizon? Knowing that the sun will rise and give light is a powerful metaphor for the hope that we have. That death and darkness will not have the last word. Jesus has conquered death.
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” -Luke 1:76-79
One Last Stocking Stuffer
One of Gretchen’s most beloved activities was hunting for the perfect stocking stuffers. She would collect these little treasures year round. They were never expensive, but they were always specific, specific like an inside joke between best friends. The most trivial of gifts communicated the most intimate of loves. For each of her babies, she would stuff a shopping bag till overflowing and position them on the couch just so.
Yesterday, I was cleaning beneath our bed and discovered a small bin. It was apparent from the disarray that a bunch of random bits had accumulated in that bin over a period of months. But as I dug through it, one item took my breath away. It was the 1983 GMC Vandura from the 80’s TV show, The A Team. It was almost as though she spoke to me “Lukas, I know you, and I love how quirky you are.” Gretchen and the girls know I have a soft spot for quirky anti-hero characters. Today, I walked into my office and positioned the last stocking stuffer I will receive from Gretchen on the shelf alongside Batman, Will Ferrell, John Piper, and Clint Eastwood spaghetti western cowboys.
