The Citizen, 2015-12-24, Page 40PAGE 40. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2015.
Gifts, games mark Christmas for Royall family
Continued from page 23
bringing into the country.
Afterwards, we would have to wrap
them back up again.
“I have a distinct memory of that
being part of our Christmas
tradition” Mark said. Despite that,
we always looked forward to coming
home to Canada,” he said.
For Mark, Christmas is always
about family first and nothing shows
that more than one of his favourite
Christmas tales about how one year
he made sure there was a tree at his
mom’s house for his nieces and
nephews.
“One of my favourite stories
happened after my sister and I
moved out and were married and
starting our own families,” Mark
said. “My dad had passed away
earlier. I had come home from
school and mom was very depressed
because no one was coming home
for Christmas. My sister was
married and had kids. Mom had this
artificial tree that looked like toilet
brush cleaners to me. It was horrible.
She was so depressed. My
sister called and said they would
come home though and mom was
frantic because she had no tree.
She had to get one for her
grandkids.
“I said, ‘Mom, I saw that someone
had already brought their tree to the
end of the street’,” Mark said.
“Someone must have been going on
vacation because it was early for
people to bring their tree out to the
street corner. I told her I was going
to, under the cover of darkness, go
and get that tree so we would have
one. I walked down, looked around,
grabbed the tree and ran home. It
was perfect, had tinsel on it. I was so
proud of myself. The next day
though, I realized you could see
where I had dragged the tree all the
way from the corner in the snow to
our house. You think you’re pulling
one off, but nope. My sister brought
her kids, tree was there. That’s one
of my favourite Christmas
memories.”
This year, the family connection is
the strongest it has been since the
Royalls’ move to Blyth several years
ago, as Mark and Glenda’s entire
family will be home for the holidays.
“This is the first time that all our
girls are going to be at home since
we moved here,” Mark said.
All the girls being under one roof
means that a very special tradition
for the family can be observed,
according to Mark.
“One tradition we have [was born
several years ago when I] bought all
the girls these bright pink onesies,”
he said. “The girls always put their
onesies on and sleep in the same
room together. Every Christmas Eve
since they were little, I would go up
the stairs and yell, ‘Ho Ho Ho.’ and
they would yell, ‘Daddy!’ It’s always
something we’ve done.”
Absent from this year’s Christmas
will be Mark and Glenda’s
‘unofficial’ daughter, Andrea Sali.
“She’s not biologically related to
us, but she calls us mom and dad,”
Mark said.
Glenda explained that Sali went on
a missionary trip to Ireland after
selling everything she owned. When
she came back, she had nowhere to
go and stayed with the Royalls for a
year before getting back on her
feet.
The family also always watches a
romantic comedy on Christmas Eve
and has sparkling cider. The film
always has to have a Christmas
connection, according to Mark. They
have yet to choose this year’s movie.
Christmas Day is a day of rest and
relaxation and reflection for the
family.
“Christmas is pretty simple,” Mark
said. “We try to wake up in our own
home. We rest, we don’t go from
house to house. Glenda makes
croissants for breakfast and we
reflect on what God has done for us
personally. It’s a good time to reflect
on your life and that’s kind of neat.”
The family then sings worship
songs, with Mark leading the way on
guitar.
When it comes time for gifts,
everyone takes part in each gift,
whether they’re the giver, receiver or
just an on-looker.
“We always open one gift for one
person at a time,” Mark said. “I hand
out the gifts. We all stop and see
what it is. We don’t rush through
that. We make sure everyone pays
attention when someone is opening
up a gift. I think that’s important to
us.”
The family also has a unique
tradition to show appreciation for
good gifts.
“We also have the flying monkeys,
that’s a tradition for us,” Mark said.
“If you like the gift you [smack the
monkey and it squeals]. It gets
annoying, but it’s a lot of fun.”
One of the gifts is always a board
or card game, Mark explained, and
the family enjoys that while a big
turkey dinner is prepared to end the
day.
While family is important,
Royall’s connection to God makes
Christmas an important day for
remembering the blessings the
family receives, both his family at
home and his family at Huron
Chapel.
“On Christmas Eve, we go to
Christmas service at our church,”
Mark said. “I love that service. It is
the largest-attended service we do in
a year. There has to be over 300
people there. That’s a great night.”
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