Serve with love
【Celebrating Christmas】1
The festive feast at my uncle's house is famously sumptuous. We have dinner at his house every New Year's Eve. Auntie's menu increases year by year, with more than 20 dishes such as braised pork, braised beef brisket, assorted seafood, Taiwanese cabbage and pork ribs, plus desserts, making people salivate.
It originated from the first Christmas after our family immigrated to the United States. In a small three-bedroom apartment, twelve adults and children, three generations living under one roof, sharing one bathroom, were crammed into a car like a circus performing stunts.
This is a "typical" hard-working lifestyle for early immigrant families, but my grandmother said that it's all thanks to gratitude. Therefore, at Christmas time, a plastic Christmas tree must be placed in the small living room and decorated with lights and decorations. The Christmas lights synchronized with the pace of everyone passing by, twinkling to announce the good news.
A message of low confidence
When children are young, the holiday they look forward to the most is the "Christmas Party at the great-uncle's house". The rich dishes and midnight gift exchange are the moments when their dreams come true. And we gather with relatives and friends, eat delicious food, talk and laugh, and it is even more joyful.
For a while, when I thought about spiritual growth and meaningful activities, the Christmas dinner at my uncle’s house made me feel guilty. There are poor people everywhere, but I selfishly feed myself and then try to lose weight. One year before Christmas, I expressed this opinion with deep feeling, people must grow spiritually!
My uncles and aunts are hospitable, and all my friends who are foreign students or are alone are invited to celebrate the festival. That night, as usual, I saw many long-lost relatives and friends, but my eyes were all focused on a young man.
I met him at a Thanksgiving dinner more than a month ago, and I had to look at him differently because of his incongruity. We are all "banana youths" who have been in the United States for many years. We are bright and fashionable, speak English well, and handle advancement and retreat in a Western style. As for him, he looks thin and shy, not tall but hunched over. He wears a pair of big glasses on his thin face. He takes off his coat and wears a khaki jacket. His whole body exudes a message of shyness and lack of confidence.
At that dinner, he sat in the corner, and his cousin sometimes went over to talk to him, serve soup and tea, and try to draw him into the circle of activities of all the family members. But he remained quiet and speechless, and when he heard the joke, there was not even a hint of concern at the corner of his mouth. He is the son of his uncle's friend. He just came to the United States to major in design. Before going home, his aunt packed a lot of food into boxes and bags for him to take away. She asked her cousin to give him a ride and asked him kindly if he had any warm clothes. I don’t think he will come to dinner again, what an embarrassing scene for him!
Unexpectedly, he showed up again at the Christmas dinner. Still standing in the corner timidly, not saying hello to anyone. I walked over to say hello, and this time he nodded gently to me, looking very hard. Why does this shy otaku appear in a place with a lot of people? "I was also surprised. I called him to invite him, and he immediately agreed." My cousin said, "Actually, it was a long journey for him to get here from school, even if someone picked him up at the station."
Seeing him standing aside very politely, my uncle asked him to sit at the same table with us. The cousins who grew up crowded together in the apartment talked affectionately and ate and drank without any scruples. Everyone asked him to "encourage food" to him, and when they saw him finishing a mountain of vegetables, they asked him to refill the plate, and he did so. Asked him about life at school, his answer was so low that he couldn't hear it. During the dinner, I told a joke that made people laugh. From the corner of his eye, he seemed to see his eyes narrowing, his head shaking slightly, and the shadow of a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
meaningful dinner
My cousin answered the phone and said, "Mimi called from Taiwan. She said she misses us so much. This is the most warm and interesting Christmas she has ever attended." Mimi is the daughter of a wealthy family, and she is married to the son of a wealthy family. The well-matched marriage was even mentioned in gossip magazines. All praised. But every family has its own problems. Mimi ended her short marriage this year and is recovering at home alone. On Christmas Eve, many celebrities went to parties, but she chose to call us.
I originally wanted to express my righteousness to everyone, but suddenly I felt inexplicably moved. The shy and autistic young man smiled lightly here, and the frustrated socialite missed the warmth here. Is this dinner really meaningless?
Aunt Jun, who has been participating every year, was young and widowed, and brought her son to the United States to start over. Now that her son is married and it is rare to go home, she chooses to celebrate Christmas at her uncle's house as a Buddhist worshiper. Aunt Lili's family immigrated to the United States in the early years and are now "basic members" of the party. I had never been to church when I came here, but now my whole family has believed in the Lord. There are also Mrs. Xu’s family, Ai Li, and Bobo Luo’s family...there are endless stories like this. There are Christmas parties everywhere. Why do these people choose to attend this party where they have to pray and give thanks before eating?
When life was hard and difficult, there were many difficulties. When your career is successful, you will have more worries and pressures. Under every glamorous appearance, there is unknown pain. But uncles and aunts choose to be grateful. No matter in season or out of season, they always put love into every dish and spread the good news of love with the abundance they receive.
The house my uncle now lives in has seven rooms, eight bathrooms, and a car for each person. It is a "typical" immigrant family, and the tradition of thanksgiving gatherings is still going on. Yes, there is meaning when love is passed down from generation to generation.
Author profile
Yinong, a stay-at-home mother who would be very sad if she doesn’t read books or newspapers; a writer who likes traveling, food, movie appreciation and music.