CHRISTMAS PARTY WITH THE OLD FOLKS

Tonight Debra and I attended the annual Christmas party for some of the people within our church who are enjoying the second half of their first century of life: The over-50 crowd. Debra's mom, Dee, joined us for the event.

The twenty-seven of us attending started with a delicious potluck meal, including desserts. Once everyone's palates were happy and everyone's stomachs were adequately stretched beyond the comfort zone, Vi stepped to the keyboard and led us in singing some seasonal celebratory songs.

After the crowd finished singing, it was my turn to step up to the plate and lead in an intense and competitive game of "Name That Silent Night Tune". The elderly among us were required to reach way, way back into their memory banks and recall some tunes, mostly from the 1950's, which had been rewritten for this occasion using the lyrics to "Silent Night".

After I shared some thoughts, mostly from the Bible, about seven things I have been given, we all grabbed the Christmas gifts we brought with us, placed them all on the floor, circled them with chairs, and began our white elephant gift exchange. After we drew numbers, each of us stood up from our chairs in numerical order and chose either to take a new gift from the floor or to take a gift (steal a gift) from someone who had already selected one. The rule was that once a gift was stolen it then became frozen and could no longer be stolen by anyone else.

Finally, we folded all the tables and chairs, put them away, and went home.

Debra and Dee work their way through the potluck food line.

From the keyboard beside the Christmas tree, Vi leads us in some Christmas songs.

I explain the rules to "Name That Silent Night Tune".

And the game begins.

Debra and Dee draw numbers from Vi as the white elephant gifts on the floor wait to be snatched.

Dee draws the number "1" and opens a gift bag only to discover a pair of goggles in which the lenses are missing.

My contribution to the pile of gifts was a Chia Obama, a clay planter in the shape of Obama's head, including seeds which sprout into a green Afro hair style within ten days. Sean selected the gift and his wife, Gloria, was among the amused viewers.

Sharon selects a video "Jeopardy" game as her husband, Dick, and my wife, Debra, look on. As the evening progressed, I eventually stole Sharon's gift and took it home.

Sharon captures Debra's laughter on camera.