Grandma’s Christmas Eve Punch

Breanna: “Did Grandma Lovell always do the Christmas Eve Punch?” Vance: “No, she didn’t start that until—until when? [He paused for a moment to think.] Probably about the time we got married. ‘Cause we didn’t—we always had a Christmas Eve dinner that was—“[Marsha interrupts.] Marsha: Three of us got married the same year. [Vance and two of his siblings got married in the same year.] V: Yeah that’s when she started it, because, uh, she got that recipe from somewhere. Anyway. [Long pause] Anyway she ended up startin’ to make it a little fancier when, uh, me, and Mark, and Darla got married. So yeah, she—that’s when she really started doing it. So anyway, and from then on it was always in the living room (of her house), well, except for the kids. B: At the kid table, yeah, I never graduated from the kid table. We quit doin’ that before I got there. V: Well, [pause] that’s cause you were one of the youngest. B: Yeah. [We get up to go to the dining room table for lunch. He continues talking as we walk.] V: So anyway, but after that it, uh, everybody like the punch so well that they started requesting that. [He imitates people asking my grandma and her response.] “You gonna make the punch, right?” “Yeah, I can.” So then it became a tradition