A Festive Day at Grandmother’s House

  Grandmother was the soul of the family; no festivity or birthday passed where the whole family, children and children’s children, were not gathered at her house.  Near the drawing room was the “middle room” in which everyone most liked to congregate.  Here stood the piano, too.

  In those days, children were not allowed to disturb the adults who were visiting.  In the winter, this meant the whole troop had to stay in Grandmother’s bedroom.  In this room was a sleepbench used for sitting in the daytime.  At night, it was opened and inside were featherbeds and pillows.  Grandmother liked to sleep here. The room also had a fine bed with a white bedspread and many pillows with lace-covered pillowcases, and a glass display cupboard.  In the middle stood a table and chairs and around this we children sat and stood and played with the few toys and books available for us.  Very small children sat on the sleepbench on the laps of nursemaids; older ones crawled on the floor and were teased by still older ones, so that they yelled constantly.  Children who could already read brought out the book Die Krabeltasche – that was so scary!  Grandmother’s large Luther Bibel with pictures by famous artists was next. The Old Testament was so interesting with pictures about the departure from Egypt, the journey through the desert, and the many snakes.  Then there was Daniel in the Lion’s Den, and others.

  It seemed like a long time until the adults finally went into the dining room.  Here was a long long table with Grandfather at the head.  Against the wall sat the uncles according to age:  Jasch Dyck, Jasch Wiebe, Heinrich Janz, then Grandmother, and Aunt Pauls at the end.  The wives of my uncles sat opposite them.

  There was roast duck with stuffing, potatoes with clear fat, canned watermelon and pumpkin pickles.  For dessert, snowballs with vanilla sauce.
  The adults ate long and a lot, and conversed without end, at least so it seemed to us children.  Finally, they stood up and went into the middle room to play music.  Now was the time for children to rush into the dining room, and the cold roast duck with potatoes and cold gravy tasted splendid.

  I ate quickly, for from the middle room rang wonderful music, and because I was a lover of music, I crept softly to my Mama and could not get enough.  There was Tante Tina Dyck, a wonderful pianist, and Huebert’s Jasch who played Ass’s Death by Grieg and an Intermezzo by Mascagni on the cello.

  These lovely family feasts continued until the Revolution when we fled to the Crimea.  We returned for a short time in 1918 when the German troops occupied Ukraine, but left for good when Machno’s robber bands came.  Never did we hear Grandmother despondent in this time; she believed firmly in God’s guidance and comforted us.  She died  after a  short  illness in  1922  when her  soul  glided  over  to the wonderland that is prepared for those who believe.
 

An excerpt from the written memoir of Katerine (Katjuscha) Thiessen (1901-1994)
of a family gathering at her grandmother’s house in Sch?nwiese, Ukraine.
Contributed by her sister, Helen Klassen.