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57. An Early Christmas Morn

By 1965 there were only three of the Doucette children living at home - Dennis, Eileen and Joan. Ivan had moved to Charlottetown, where he had secured work at St. Dunstan’s University as maintenance worker. LeRoy married Kathleen Gaudet (1957), Edna married Joe Martell(1959), Helen married Roy McKenna (1961), Ida married Lloyd McInnis (1963) and Velda married Cyrus Bernard (1965). By 1965, Dennis had quit school to work at the window business with his father.

The Christmas season was soon approaching. This was a time for family gatherings. Margurita always made doughnuts and meat pies (pate) for the holidays. On Christmas day, the family would gather around the table for a turkey dinner. Alphy, Margurita, the children and grandchildren would join in the meal, and the table would be set a few times around before everyone had eaten. There were always a few gifts under the tree, and the younger children still hung up their socks on Christmas Eve. The focus of Christmas was not so much on. material things, but on the Christ Child. The highlight of the season was the Midnight Mass. When the Mass was over, the family gathered together for lunch of pate and tea. The adults would open their gifts at this time. The children usually opened their gifts earlier in the evening, and had gone to bed in anticipation.

This year Alphy had made Eileen and Joan a ‘kid size’ table and chair set, and Margurita had painted them a beige color. The table set was placed under the tree with a few other gifts from Santa.

Eileen and Joan woke up in the wee hours of the morning and made their way downstairs. It was still dark as the children made their way down the hall. They tiptoed across the hall, past their

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