We started the rotation of having Christmas dinners among the three of us -- my sister, my brother and me. Our first Christmas dinner was held in my brother's home in Rock Hill. Mother stayed the whole Christmas week with him and his family. My sister, her husband and our family joined them for dinner and the opening of Christmas gifts.

The years following were at different places. Mother would spend a week with us, and then everyone would gather for a Christmas type dinner and gift opening. Then came diversification. As time wore on, other people would join us. In-laws were always welcome. We started to have dinners in nearby restaurants.

We would try and outdo each other. We have enjoyed seafood in a restaurant overlooking a river near Savannah. We enjoyed a Christmas dinner in a restaurant that furnished an old English double-decker bus to pick up the whole family and transport them to the restaurant, all in good fun.

As our children grew up and married, they hosted Christmas dinners in their homes. One year, dinner was in a home with a sunken parlor. We had two ladies who made missteps that year that resulted in two sprained ankles. One pair of crutches served the two ladies as they hoppled around the house.

One grandchild was born during one Christmas. Her mother was in labor in a hospital in Augusta during our get-together in Columbia. Our son, the father-to-be, would call us from a pay phone at intervals telling the latest news of her condition. The grandchild was not born that day. Labor was extended a couple more days.

In recent years, we gathered at the Fort Jackson Officers' Club. We had some elegant dinners served to our family until Mother was unable to travel.

Then, we planned to have the whole family at the river next door to where Mother lived, in my brother's home. It was a memorable affair to Mother and me. The grandchildren made s'mores from a grill outside and brought them in for Mother to sample, and she expressed enjoyment. They would light huge bon fires and Mother would watch the flames glow high in the air, expressing concern about sparks lighting on her asphalt roof.

My brother and his family planned participation games for all as we opened gifts and ate a hearty Christmas dinner.

This was our mother's last Christmas gathering. She passed away about two weeks later at nearly 102 years of age.