NATIVITY

I wasn't raised in a religion. My Mom and Dad had had negative experiences in that regard. However, they both left the choice up to my brother and I to acquaint ourselves if we wanted to. Our first exposure was Summer vacation Bible School.

At Christmas we therefore never had a creche'. I sort of always wanted one. And thought, maybe when I have my own place.

I still hadn't a creche' until after i married. Well, my Hb. he wanted one too. We wanted a big one like the Europeans have. Big, with lots of people and animals. The first year, it was simple. A couple of years later, Hb. made a cave out of papier mache'. Looked soo, neat. It finally disintegrated. And we used one of the mossy ones from Woolworth's.

We had to begain small though. Because of finances. First we just bought the center of the scene. The Holy Family, the Kings and a few animals. They came from Woolworth's. It meant a lot to us. As the years went by, the Creche' grew and grew. We found nice figures from Italy. Added farm animals. We had our scene for years and years. When we moved here, we sold it. As we have no one to give it to. By then there were over 70 pieces, I think. I had lost track.

This a picture from the first year.