Frieda is lovely there,. Thanks very much!
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| That first Christmas, final part added - for Abi http://www.the-cbb.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=8815 |
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| Author: | Secret Santa [ Sat Dec 04, 2010 8:42 am ] |
| Post subject: | That first Christmas, final part added - for Abi |
(The elf in charge of drabble research couldn't find any reference in the books to Herr Mensch's first name, so I've assumed it was Stefan and that Bernhilda named her eldest son after him!) It was Christmas Day morning, and the view from the Mensch family’s apartment in the Mariahilfe was of a scene which their friend Joey Bettany would immediately have dubbed “Christmas-card land”. Snow-covered streets and roofs glistened in the winter sunshine under a clear blue sky, the scene undisturbed except by a few early risers, their brightly-coloured hats and scarves standing out against the stark whiteness, hurrying to spend the day with relatives and friends. Inside the apartment, in its cosy living room, or Saal, stood a tall fir tree, lovingly dressed the previous evening with the many little ornaments collected by the family over the years and the gilded nuts prepared earlier that day by the Mensches’ younger daughter Frieda, and close to it hung an evergreen Advent wreath decorated with colourful ribbons and the four candles of the Advent season. “It’s just so quiet,” he said in answer to her questioning look. “I’ve been sitting in here on my own, and I think it’s the first time that I’ve ever done that on Christmas Day. Once upon a time this room would have been filled with chatter and excitement, but this year everything’s different.” “Luise will be with us soon: she’s in the kitchen checking on how the preparations for later on are going, but she won’t be long. Everything seems to be going well.” Frau Mensch nodded approvingly. “Gertlieb has worked hard: I have told her that she may go and visit her family soon, and stay with them until this evening. Luise and Frieda and I will serve the meal. And Frieda is awake: she is just dressing. I know that she would normally have been up a while ago, but she had a busy day yesterday and it was late by the time we returned from Midnight Mass.” She paused. “It’s still different this year, though, isn’t it? Sometimes I still forget that she’s gone: I walk into this room and expect to see her sitting there. It’s always hard, that first Christmas without someone.” Herr Mensch sighed. “I wouldn’t wish her back, not really. We were lucky to have had her with us for so long, and by the end she was ready to go: she was spending a lot of time talking about my father, and about my sister.” He’d never known his sister Natalie, who’d died on her seventh birthday, another Christmas Day long ago, some years before his birth, but his mother had never ceased to mourn the child that she’d lost and to keep her memory alive. “It’s hard though, as you say, this first Christmas without her. Especially as it’s our first Christmas without Bernhilda being here, too. Once upon a time she would have played carols for us this morning, and Gottfried would have sung, but not any more. And, before we know it, some young man will be coming to ask for Frieda’s hand in marriage and then she will be gone from us too.” “Bernhilda and Kurt have only gone away for a few days: they’ll be back soon,” his wife reminded him. Bernhilda, their eldest daughter, married earlier that year, was spending Christmas with her husband’s family, the von Eschenaus. “And think how lucky we are to have them so near us – in the same apartment block as us! When they were first married, we thought that they’d be moving to Lyon for good. If Kurt’s firm hadn’t decided to open a branch in Innsbruck and transfer him here, we’d hardly get to see them at all. And Gottfried and Gisela and the little one are not so far away. As for Frieda, she won’t even be leaving school until next summer: she’ll be with us for at least a little while yet; and, anyway, surely you want to see her happily settled with some nice young man, in time?” “Of course I do.” He smiled and shook his head. “It’s in the nature of things for children to grow up and leave their parents, of course it is! And Kurt is a fine young man and it’s easy to see that Bernhilda is very happy with him, and we couldn’t have asked for a better wife for Gottfried than Gisela. Florian and I had both hoped for some time that the two of them might come together, and we were both overjoyed when they did. If Frieda can find someone who will make her as happy in marriage as her brother and sister are, then I shall be pleased and proud to give them my blessing.” “Whom are you giving your blessing to, Papa?” The door to the room had swung wide open again and in came Frieda herself. She kissed each of her parents on both cheeks. “Froliche Weinachtstag, Papa! Frohliche Weinachtstag, Mama! Doesn’t it look beautiful outside? And doesn’t the food smell wonderful? I’ve just had some breakfast but I didn’t have much because I didn’t want to spoil my appetite for later on.” She stopped, and looked at them both with a puzzled expression on her face. “What?” She put her hand to her head. “Is my hair coming down?” “Your hair’s perfect,” Frau Mensch said, wiping a tear from her eye. “It’s your dress – your beautiful dress. We didn’t know if you’d bother this year, to wear our traditional clothes.” “Now that Grossmutter is no longer here, you mean.” Sadness shadowed Frieda’s pretty face for a moment. “But we’ve always dressed this way on Christmas Day. Both of you are wearing the clothes you wore last year, when Grossmutter was still alive, and so is Tante Luise – why would I do any different? Grossmutter’s in heaven now, but our family goes on, and Christmas goes on. They always will.” |
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| Author: | Lesley [ Sat Dec 04, 2010 9:01 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: That first Christmas, part 1 of 2 - for Abi |
Awwww - that was really beautiful, sad but also hopeful. Thank you Santa |
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| Author: | JoW [ Sat Dec 04, 2010 9:06 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: That first Christmas, part 1 of 2 - for Abi |
It has made me go all weepy. I loved it. |
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| Author: | roversgirl [ Sat Dec 04, 2010 9:08 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: That first Christmas, part 1 of 2 - for Abi |
Frieda is lovely there,. Thanks very much!
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| Author: | cestina [ Sat Dec 04, 2010 10:24 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: That first Christmas, part 1 of 2 - for Abi |
How lovely to get another glimpse of Christmas at the Mensches. The Innsbruck Christmas is my very favourite bit of all the books. Thank you Santa (By the way, and slightly OT, I've only just connected the fact that Mensch is the German word for person or human being and thence into Yiddish as someone with admirable characteristics. I wonder if EBD realised that when she named this particularly fine family?) |
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| Author: | MaryR [ Sat Dec 04, 2010 3:54 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: That first Christmas, part 1 of 2 - for Abi |
Beautiful, Santa. Thank you. 
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| Author: | Secret Santa [ Sat Dec 04, 2010 6:04 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: That first Christmas, part 1 of 2 - for Abi |
“You’re a very wise young lady, Frieda Mensch, and a lot wiser than your silly old Papa is.” Herr Mensch stood up and embraced his daughter, and, after a moment, Frau Mensch joined them. The three of them stood together by the fire for a moment, before breaking apart and taking their seats; and then, before anyone could say or do anything else, there came the sound of feet running towards the room from the direction of the kitchen. “Good heavens, Gertlieb, what on earth has happened?” Frau Mensch exclaimed as the maid came rushing into the room. “Has there been an accident in the kitchen?” An anxious look crossed her face. “Is my sister all right?” “Everything is fine in the kitchen,” Gertlieb gasped. “But Fraulein Luise sent me to tell you that you might want to go downstairs, to meet them all. They’re here! Now! She’s just seen them coming along the road.” “They’re here?” Frieda dashed over to the window, just as the sound of sleigh bells outside became audible to all four of them. “Yes, they’re here,” she said joyfully. “They must have left the Maranis’ really early. Come on, let’s hurry up!” With that, she was away, out of the apartment and running down the stairs. Herr and Frau Mensch followed her, but neither of them were nearly as quick as she was and by the time they reached the outside of the building she was already deep in conversation with Maria, Gisela’s younger sister, and the two of them were assisting Gottfried in unloading a series of parcels from the front of the sleigh whilst Herr Marani was helping his wife to climb down from the back. Moments later, once Gisel Marani was standing safely on the ground and eagerly exchanging Christmas greetings with Gretchen Mensch, Gottfried turned to help Gisela, their baby daughter cradled tenderly in her arms, become the last member of the party to step out into the crisp white snow. “I can’t tell you how happy we are to see you all,” Stefan Mensch said simply. “And Frohliche Weihnachstag, everyone! I’m just sorry that we weren’t at the door when you arrived. We didn’t expect you for another hour or so: you must have been up at the crack of dawn this morning.” The younger Mensches had spent the previous day with the Maranis and stayed overnight at their home in the Wilten area of Innsbruck, quite some distance from the Mariahilfe. “We wanted to get here: we wanted to have as much time here as possible. It’s only right that we should all be together today.” Gently and lovingly, Gisela put his grandchild into his arms. “It’s Natalie’s first Christmas.” Natalie. Natalie Mensch. He’d never been able to express in words how touched he’d been that his son and daughter-in-law had given their first-born child the name of his long-dead sister, but they knew: he was sure of that. He wished very much that his mother could have lived long enough to see her, but then that was how the cycle of life went. There were deaths, but there were also births. His mother was gone, but the first of a new generation of Mensches was here with them, peering up at him and gurgling happily. And in just a few short days Bernhilda and Kurt would be home too. Frieda had been right, as she usually was. Their family went on, and Christmas went on. And he hoped that they always would do. “Frohliche Weihnachtstag, Natalie,” he whispered, planting a light kiss carefully on the baby’s delicate cheek. “Frohliche Weihnachtstag, everyone. Frohliche Weihnactstag!” |
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| Author: | ChubbyMonkey [ Sat Dec 04, 2010 7:12 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: That first Christmas, final part added - for Abi |
Aww, Santa, I just read that all at once and now I'm really very teary. Thankyou. |
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| Author: | PaulineS [ Sat Dec 04, 2010 7:18 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: That first Christmas, final part added - for Abi |
Thank you Santa for reminding us that families go on and make new memories. |
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| Author: | Abi [ Sat Dec 04, 2010 9:29 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: That first Christmas, final part added - for Abi |
That was beautiful, Santa. Thank you very much indeed! |
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| Author: | Elder in Ontario [ Sun Dec 05, 2010 12:42 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: That first Christmas, final part added - for Abi |
I just read right through this at one go - it brought tears to my eyes. What a lovely reminder that families *do* go on, and new memories are always there for the making. Thank you. |
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| Author: | Karry [ Sun Dec 05, 2010 9:00 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: That first Christmas, final part added - for Abi |
Oh dear! I am now sitting in bed sobbing! This is so moving! Santa - I had never associated Gisela's baby's name with her great Aunt who had died so young! |
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| Author: | roversgirl [ Sun Dec 05, 2010 9:46 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: That first Christmas, final part added - for Abi |
This is very moving and lovely. Thanks
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| Author: | KathrynW [ Mon Dec 06, 2010 8:21 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: That first Christmas, final part added - for Abi |
Thank you Santa, that was lovely and very moving. |
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| Author: | mell [ Wed Dec 15, 2010 3:59 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: That first Christmas, final part added - for Abi |
Beautiful, thank you very much. |
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| Author: | Kathy_S [ Wed Dec 22, 2010 12:43 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: That first Christmas, final part added - for Abi |
Thank you, Santa. Very Christmasy.
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| Author: | Fiona Mc [ Wed Dec 22, 2010 9:47 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: That first Christmas, final part added - for Abi |
Thanks this is so lovely |
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| Author: | Elbee [ Fri Dec 24, 2010 12:10 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: That first Christmas, final part added - for Abi |
How beautiful, thank you Santa. |
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| Author: | robinette [ Mon Jan 03, 2011 12:43 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: That first Christmas, final part added - for Abi |
Very beautiful story Santa, thank you |
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