Christmas on the farm was amazing. It wasn’t the gifts, it wasn’t the adventure of the barn or the woods because it was much too cold to enjoy either. It was a time where Grandma Bradley (Chloe Regina Anspach Bradley) would expand the table to stretch the whole length of the dining room. She covered that table with food from one end to the other. Above the table, on the second floor was a bedroom with a huge grate in the floor that allowed heat to rise and warm the bedrooms upstairs. All of the cousins would go up there and we’d lay on our stomach like a pinwheel around that vent. We were waiting for the olive tray to be delivered. Looking back I am quite sure my Grandma knew what was happening and the olives always appeared long before the dinner was ready. We thought we were getting away with something as the cousins would always send me down to “steal” olives for the group. The theory was that because I was the youngest… and I’d like to think the cutest… that if I were caught the punishment would be minimal. I don’t recall ever being caught. I’d run up those steep stairs with pockets and hands full of olives. The olive tray was very interesting as it seemed no matter how often I came on my mission the amount of olives never diminished. My Uncle Edward Fellabaum one year gave each of the children their own bottle of olives. It was the most memorable gift given. The Grandparents always had a Christmas tree up and decorated, the house was warm with the boiler downstairs stoked with coal. The holiday meal was always attended by what seemed to be an army of relatives and of course, all kinds of food and lots of fun conversation at the table.
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