Cousins Christmas Party 2015

The Cousins’ Christmas Party in Windsor, ON was awesome this year, but the conversation started long before the event took place.

My cousin Sue, for whom I have the deepest respect, used “Xmas” in the invitation on FB instead of “Christmas.” In an attempt to elicit a discussion/debate,  I went into a brief dissertation about leaving Christ out of Christmas. I wrote an article about replacing “Christ” with an “X” in The Fredericton Gleaner newspaper in 1969. I suggested using a ‘Chi-Rho” the Greek letters for the first three letters of Christ instead of an “X.” I further suggested that if advertisers wanted to save space and cut their costs (since they were charged per word and column space), they could use the Chi-Rho symbol ☧ instead of just an X. It is a symbol using an X with a P through it. X in Greek is ch and P in Greek is r.

By researching “Xmas” I learned that the use of the "X" predates advertisers and was used in the 15^th century (see http://blog.dictionary.com/xmas-christogram/).Thus, I learned something new this Christmas. "Xmas" is properly pronouced "Christmas."

The party hosted by Sue was attended by 17 cousins. As one cousin put it: "We’d have to rent St. Peter’s Basilica to host all of the cousins."  The pot luck food was provided by the cousins and it was delicious. The highlight of the party was the opening of the gifts. Everyone had to bring a gift and not spend more than $20. The gifts were as varied as they were delightful.

A good time was had by all.

Jan (Sue's sister) and Stan watching the cousins open their gifts.

The cousins huddle together as their names are drawn to get a gift.

The cousins feasting on the delectibles

Two cousins swapping stories while cousin Sam looks on

Just checking messages ladies. I'm so busy.

My gift was this lovely lady's shoe designed to hold a bottle of wine.

Thank you Sue for hosting the party. I had a blast.