Every family has Christmas traditions, some which may be unique to that family. In our home as the kids were growing up we hid an ornament shaped like a pickle on the tree. I don’t remember why or how it started. The pickle was placed on the tree Christmas Eve after the kids were sent to bed. Whoever found the pickle on Christmas morning received an extra present. The present was often a game which the family could play together. Even as adults the kids still hunt with obvious excitement.
At our recent college staff Christmas party Sue brought the pickle with the intention to hide it in the room, perhaps on the tree or among the other decorations. A special door prize was all set to be awarded to the lucky finder. She had instructions for all of the games in an envelope at each chair around the tables. No one had ever heard about a pickle ornament or seen one before. They started to look for the pickle during the appetizer course, some continued during the main course and on into the desert phase. Finally Sue came to me and asked where “I” had hidden it. I did not hide it! She had, or so I thought. During the last little bit of the dinner prep, as we were both busy with last minute task, she had mentioned to me that the pickle needed to be hidden and I told her “good luck with that” because some of the helpers were also some of the guests. She meant, in wife-speak, that I should hide the pickle. Well after almost 35 years of marriage I will admit I missed the hidden meaning in the phrase “the pickle needs to be hidden.”
So once we figured out that neither one of us had hidden it, we wondered where it was. It had been brought to the room of that we were sure but where was it. We finally gave up and explained to everyone how we had each thought the other one had hidden it but now we could not even find it our self. We were accused to “punking” the entire staff and Board-they claimed we had made the whole “pickle” game up just to fool them. We were forced to admit that we had lost the pickle at home once this year already and just before we gave up and bought a new one it was discovered in a small box in the china cabinet. We assured them that we had not teased them with a fictitious pickle but we could not produce it on request.
The last phase of the evening is always a gift exchange. After the present were randomly chosen, swapped and switched about it came time to unwrap. We always unwrap one and a time so everyone can laugh together at the silly gifts. The very first person to open their gift was the wife of our Academic Dean. She opened very gently and we all watched with eager faces. Once opened, she jumped to her feet holding a jar of pickles shouting I found the pickle! It could not have been funnier or a more perfect ending to the pickle-less evening.
It was not until we cleaned up that the pickle was “found” still in the little box among the empty boxes the decorations were brought to the college in. But by that time most everybody was gone, no doubt still wondering how the president of a Bible College and his wife could be such good story tellers. Oh well, Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.
