{"id":19183,"date":"2026-03-11T07:15:34","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T07:15:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/uncategorized\/erin-napiers-christmas-memories\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T06:07:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T06:07:22","slug":"erin-napiers-christmas-memories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/erin-napiers-christmas-memories\/","title":{"rendered":"Erin Napier&#8217;s Christmas Memories"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media-youtube-player\"><iframe class=\"media-youtube-player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4RiZw7xPLCQ?autoplay=1&amp;mute=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>Some people consider my husband, Ben, and me a Christmas couple. I like that. Not just because it\u2019s my favorite holiday and Ben is into Christmas year-round. But because our love story is so connected to Christmas\u2014it\u2019s a part of who we are as a couple. The presents, the ornaments, the food, the songs, the scents, the lights and all that our family does to celebrate <a href=\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/daily-devotions\/seasonal-devotions\/prepare-for-the-birth-of-jesus\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jesus\u2019 birth<\/a>. The magic and joy of the season are a feast for all the senses God has given us.<\/p>\n<p>Back when I was a sophomore at Jones County Junior College, just down the road from Laurel, I was the design director for the yearbook, and we were doing a feature story on this guy Ben, a big presence on campus. I had a secret crush on him. At six foot six, always surrounded by friends, he was impossible to miss.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_109430\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-109430\" style=\"width: 214px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"longdesc-return-109430\" class=\"size-full wp-image-109430\" tabindex=\"-1\" src=\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/GP0123_coverembed.jpg\" alt=\"The cover of the Dec-Jan 2023 issue of Guideposts\" width=\"214\" height=\"288\" longdesc=\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles?longdesc=109430&amp;referrer=109402\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-109430\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>As seen in the Dec-Jan 2023 issue of<\/em> Guideposts<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>We finally met in early December when he came to the yearbook office to do the interview. Three days later, we got in my blue VW Bug and drove over to Mason Park to look at the <a href=\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/inspiring-stories\/decorate-your-house-for-advent\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Christmas lights<\/a>. By day six, we knew we were going to get married. I know it sounds crazy, but that\u2019s why we call that week in December \u201clove week.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>All too soon, Ben had to leave to be with his family for Christmas. My mom had just tried out the recipe for these chocolate, oatmeal and peanut butter <a href=\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/friends-and-family\/friends\/the-christmas-cookie-project\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">cookies<\/a>. You don\u2019t bake them\u2014you boil them. Super easy. Ben took one bite and loved them. So she put a huge batch in a gallon-sized Ziploc baggie, and he ate them on his five-hour drive home. Couldn\u2019t afford to stop for a burger. Didn\u2019t need to.<\/p>\n<p>Every Christmas since, Mama has boiled a batch. \u201cWhy do you make those awful cookies?\u201d Daddy will mutter. \u201cI can\u2019t stand them.\u201d \u201cThey\u2019re not for you,\u201d Mama says. \u201cThey\u2019re for Ben.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>What would we do without the love of parents, making Christmas happen for their children?<\/p>\n<p>I got the love-to-cook gene from Mammaw, my grandmother on my dad\u2019s side. She was the keeper of our <a href=\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/entertainment\/recipes\/a-family-recipe\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">family recipe<\/a>s. She made something we called Mother Goose\u2019s Sunday Rice, a concoction of rice, chicken broth, onions, bell pepper and Velveeta cheese. One of our many favorites.<\/p>\n<p>But when Mammaw died in May 2020, at the age of 97, we couldn\u2019t find any of those recipes. We helped Daddy sort through her belongings: the crocheted doilies, the Blue Willow dishes, the glass tea pitcher, the dented aluminum biscuit bowl. I took photos of each room, exactly as she had left them, so we would always remember the Christmases and birthdays and Sundays spent around her <a href=\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/entertainment\/recipes\/dinner\/the-gospel-of-good-food-and-family-meal-time\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">dinner table<\/a> and her out-of-tune piano. I found a few cookbooks but not her recipes.<\/p>\n<p>Finally it was time to give the last of her things to Goodwill. We were hoisting her dining room console when its door flew open, nearly spilling the contents onto the pavement. Inside were two ceramic canisters, one shaped like a ripe peach, the other like a basket of strawberries.<\/p>\n<p>They were stuffed to the brim with her hand-written recipes. Peanut brittle, my cousin Jim\u2019s favorite Christmas cake, spaghetti and meatballs, her famous creamy layered dessert called Chocolate Delight. It felt like a wink from heaven, God letting Mammaw give us <a href=\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/angels-and-miracles\/miracles\/gods-grace\/one-last-gift\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">one final gift<\/a> that would carry on in us and in our children.<\/p>\n<p>I took those recipes, scanned them into my computer and put them together, along with the photos I took, in a book. Everyone in our family got a copy on <a href=\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/friends-and-family\/family\/keeping-it-casual-on-christmas-morning\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Christmas morning<\/a>. They all cried.<\/p>\n<p>One of the first gifts I ever got was a toy kitchen. At three, I had a miniature stove with tiny pots, pans, utensils, dishes and plastic food that I \u201ccooked\u201d and served to my parents. A few years ago, my cousin Jim and my best friend, Mallorie, got a toy kitchen for their daughter, and Ben helped them set it up.<\/p>\n<p>We had no idea how much work it took. They weren\u2019t finished till well after midnight <a href=\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/prayer\/holiday-prayers\/6-short-prayers-for-christmas-eve-and-christmas-day\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Christmas Eve<\/a>. Christmas Eve 2019, Ben was up late building another tiny kitchen for our first-born, and the tradition continues.<\/p>\n<p>Now we look to give our two daughters\u2014Helen, who turns five in January, and one-and-a-half-year-old Mae\u2014the magic of Christmas.<\/p>\n<p>For Helen, it begins well before December. Ben has taken to singing her a slew of <a href=\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/entertainment\/music\/where-christmas-music-lived\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Christmas songs<\/a> all year long. Helen has assigned me only one carol, \u201cAway in a Manger.\u201d It\u2019s become her favorite lullaby, our bedtime duet.<\/p>\n<p>We want Helen and Mae to know there\u2019s a reason for the season. On December 1, out comes the <a href=\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/inspiring-stories\/10-things-you-might-not-know-about-advent-calendars\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Advent calendar<\/a>. Mama made a beautiful one of fabric. It has a Christmas tree on top with jingle bells, and at the base are 24 small pockets, each holding a tiny ornament. Every night we read a line or two from the <a href=\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/inspiring-stories\/stories-of-faith-and-hope\/the-christmas-story-in-bible-verses\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Christmas story<\/a> in the Bible. Then Helen takes out the ornament and hangs it on the fabric tree.<\/p>\n<p>Our daughters are catching that Advent feeling of joyful anticipation, counting the days. For our church\u2019s variety show, Helen plans to do a dance from <em>The Nutcracker <\/em>or sing a carol. \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/friends-and-family\/pets\/were-there-animals-at-the-birth-of-jesus\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Away in a Manger<\/a>,\u201d of course!<\/p>\n<p>Another family favorite is \u201cBlue Christmas,\u201d sung by <a href=\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/angels-and-miracles\/angels\/7-mysterious-elvis-presley-stories\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Elvis Presley<\/a>. We play his Christmas album every year. Mama used to tell my brother, Clark, and me, \u201cNow, kids, I want you to know there are only two kings in this world: Jesus and Elvis.\u201d King Elvis helps us celebrate the birth of the King of kings.<\/p>\n<p>Mama got to see Elvis in concert twice, and there\u2019s a video of me as a newborn with my dad and uncle and grandfather singing \u201cBlue Christmas.\u201d Horribly out of tune, mind you.<\/p>\n<p>Every year, Mama puts out on the buffet a ceramic sculpture of Elvis Presley\u2019s Graceland, something she got years ago. That <a href=\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/prayer\/holiday-prayers\/how-did-they-pray-at-the-first-christmas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">first Christmas<\/a>, we sprinkled fake snow all over the lawn. Somehow that snow has survived. Every year, we gather it up and sprinkle the same snow on Elvis\u2019s ceramic lawn. No wonder the first word Helen learned to spell was E-L-V-I-S!<\/p>\n<p>The sense that\u2019s most evocative to me is smell. There are so many scents I associate with Christmas. <a href=\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/entertainment\/recipes\/how-to-use-mulling-spices-for-cider-and-tea\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mulling spices<\/a> warming on the stovetop, the things Mama baked. I\u2019d come home from college, pull into the driveway, the house glowing like a lantern. And even before I walked in the door, the cinnamon-clove-nutmeg aroma of apple cobbler greeted me.<\/p>\n<p>In Laurel, the season begins on the first Saturday in December with Pancake Day, put on by the Kiwanis Club for college scholarships. We stand in line on Oak Street, waiting outside the YWCO (the <em>O <\/em>stands for <em>organization<\/em>). Every person I\u2019ve ever known is there. Inside the colonial brick building, we feast on all-you-can-eat pancakes, sausages and coffee. Then we go watch the parade\u2014the longest Christmas parade in the state, they say. One year, Ben and I were Mr. and Mrs. Loblolly Lumberjack, the town mascots, on a float.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s worth remembering that scents were part of that very <a href=\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/prayer\/holiday-prayers\/how-did-they-pray-at-the-first-christmas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">first Christmas<\/a>, when the wise men brought fragrant myrrh and frankincense as well as gold to the Christ Child. This year, we\u2019re opening a new store called the Laurel Mercantile Scent Library, with 50 fragrances to start.<\/p>\n<p>The magic of fragrance is that you can light a candle and be transported to a memory\u2014every great scent tells a story. Like the smell of Pancake Day or apple cobbler or the pomanders Mama and I used to make every year, sticking a million cloves in oranges so they looked like ornaments, which she\u2019d put on a tiered stand.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve barely mentioned the gifts we give or have been given. Like the cinnamon pears my family gave away at Christmastime. My parents have tons of fruit trees in their backyard, and we\u2019d pick the ripe pears and can them with Red Hots candy.<\/p>\n<p>Or the rock tumbler I got as a kid. It came from a science toys catalog. You\u2019d put in a few rocks and switch it on for weeks of tumbling. Daddy put it in the garage, and I\u2019d check on it. Six weeks later, I took out a handful of polished rocks. I was so excited.<\/p>\n<p>When we were getting ready to open Scotsman Manufacturing, our cutting board factory, I gave Ben a book the CEO of General Motors had written about what gives a company longevity. The year Helen was turning one, he gave me a journal where I could write down the <a href=\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/friends-and-family\/parenting\/teenagers\/the-best-life-advice-from-mom\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">advice I want to give our daughter<\/a>. I haven\u2019t written in that one yet\u2014it\u2019s too perfect\u2014but I keep a journal to give to my daughters someday. Like that ceramic Graceland that Mama promises to give me. Someday.<\/p>\n<p>Ben and I put snacks in each other\u2019s stockings, Slim Jims and SweeTarts in mine, Slim Jims and Reese\u2019s Peanut Butter Trees in his. The December we met, there were only <a href=\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/health-and-wellness\/better-living\/positive-thinking\/christmas-all-year-round\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">four stockings over the fireplace<\/a> in my parents\u2019 house\u2014for me, my brother, Mama and Daddy. Now there are nine. That\u2019s the best thing, the biggest blessing.<\/p>\n<p>Every December, Ben and I celebrate \u201clove week\u201d by doing the same things we did during those first six days. Have lunch at our alma mater\u2019s cafeteria, get cheese sticks from Sonic and ride in an old car to look at the lights in Mason Park.<\/p>\n<p>The whole month of December should feel different from the rest of the year. It\u2019s when <a href=\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/the-most-wonderful-gift-on-christmas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">we remember how Christ was born<\/a>. People think it\u2019s crazy that Ben wears a suit, tie and cufflinks every Sunday. But it\u2019s the same thing. He puts on a suit on Sundays because Sundays should feel different. It\u2019s when we worship God.<\/p>\n<p>You might wonder if this sinks in with Helen and Mae, who are pretty young after all. But it\u2019s never too early to start. Helen loves to paint. At age two, she was painting something vigorously, swiping the brush around on the canvas. I glanced over her shoulder and couldn\u2019t believe it.<\/p>\n<p>Without her knowing, we could see that she had painted <a href=\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/daily-devotions\/devotions-for-women\/seasonal-devotions-devotions-for-women\/a-beautiful-message-from-a-worn-manger\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Baby Jesus in the manger<\/a>, with Mary and Joseph watching over him. How could she picture the scene so vividly? How did she know? Was it because she heard the story every night with the Advent calendar or sang it with \u201cAway in a Manger\u201d?<\/p>\n<p>We hang up that painting every year at Christmastime\u2014to celebrate the gift that was given to us when Christ was born.<\/p>\n<p><em>For more inspiring stories, subscribe to <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shopguideposts.org\/magazines\/guideposts-magazine.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Guideposts<\/strong><\/a> <em>magazine<\/em>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"media-youtube-player\"><iframe class=\"media-youtube-player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2tUVVYtaU8M\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Some people consider my husband, Ben, and me a Christmas couple. I like that. Not just because it\u2019s my favorite holiday and Ben is into Christmas year-round. But because our love story is so connected to Christmas\u2014it\u2019s a part of who we are as a couple. The presents, the ornaments, the food, the songs, the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28263,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[222,172,136],"tags":[33,24,25,190,40],"ppma_author":[1120],"class_list":["post-19183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-family","category-friends-and-family","category-positive-living","tag-celebrities","tag-christmas","tag-family","tag-grandmother","tag-holidays"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.6 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Erin Napier&#8217;s Christmas Memories - Guideposts Articles<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Erin Napier&#8217;s Christmas Memories\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Some people consider my husband, Ben, and me a Christmas couple. I like that. Not just because it\u2019s my favorite holiday and Ben is into Christmas year-round. But because our love story is so connected to Christmas\u2014it\u2019s a part of who we are as a couple. 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