A Celebration Christmas

“No, it wasn’t stolen, as in illegally taken from someone,” Lily said. “It’s called stollen. It sounds the same, but it’s completely legal. Believe me, I wouldn’t teach you about anything illegal.”

“How big was it?” Megan asked, still looking as if she wasn’t buying the story.

“What?” Lily asked.

“You said the stollen bread loaf was big enough to feed the entire city,” she said incredulously. “How big is that?”

“This big?” Hannah hopped off the bar stool and held out her arms wide.

“Oh, much bigger than that,” Lily said, winking and playfully waving her off.

“This big?” Hannah’s arms were stretched so wide she was bending backward.

“Yes, maybe that big,” Lily said. “Possibly. But maybe even a little bit bigger.”

She reached down and tickled the little girl. Hannah squealed in delight.

“I’ve never seen the big loaf of bread in person,” Lily said. “But I’ve heard it was so big they had to put it on a horse-drawn carriage and pull it around. I mean, if it was big enough to feed the entire town, it had to be huge.”

All three girls gasped.

“Several years ago, they revived the stollen festival in Germany. Now it’s called Stollenfest. Every year at Christmastime, they still bake a gigantic loaf all yummy and covered with powdered sugar. They still put it on a big carriage and parade it through the streets on the way to the Christmas market. When they get there, they cut it into lots of pieces with a huge knife. I mean, think about it. You’d need a gigantic knife to cut a loaf of bread that big, don’t you think?”

The girls nodded.

“Well, they cut it up, but now instead of giving it away, they sell it and give the money they make to a charity that helps people.”

Megan nodded as if she believed Lily.

“When do they do that?” asked Hannah.

“Stollenfest takes place in the middle of Advent.”

“What’s Advent?” Bridget asked.

“It’s the period of time leading up to Christmas. Usually the three or four weeks before. So Stollenfest probably takes place two weeks or so before Christmas. So they’re probably getting ready for it right about now. It’s a very fun day.”

“Oh, my gosh,” said Hannah, dramatically putting her hand on her forehead. “That’s still a long time before Christmas comes. That’s like forever.”

Lily smiled. To a kid, the weeks before Christmas did seem to last forever. “Well, in Dresden, Germany, that’s how they make the time before Christmas go faster. They do lots and lots of baking. So that’s what I thought we could do.”

The girls were watching her attentively.

“So, what do you say?” she asked. “Do you want to learn how to make stollen? We could have our own Stollenfest right here in Celebration.”

“Are we going to make one big enough to feed the entire town?” Hannah asked, jumping up and down. “Are we going to parade it through the streets?”

“Well, no,” Lily said. “We don’t have an oven that big. But we can make smaller loaves from my great-grandmother’s recipe. Maybe we could make enough to give it to the neighbors as Christmas presents?”

The girls clapped their hands and nodded their agreement.

“Can we make some for Uncle Cullen, too?” Bridget asked.

“You bet we can. It’s a lot of fun to make. My grandmother and I used to always bake it during the holidays. I think out of everything, stollen puts me in the best Christmas spirit.”

“Why doesn’t your grandmother come and make it with us?” asked Bridget.

Lily considered her answer for a moment, afraid that bringing up the subject of death might upset the kids. Tiptoeing around the truth would be worse. If it upset them she could help them learn to cope.

“My grandmother isn’t living anymore,” she said.

“Is she with the angels?” asked Hannah, her eyes earnest and sober as she got back on her stool.

“Yes, she is,” said Lily.

“My mommy and daddy are with the angels, too,” Hannah said.

“Hannah…” Megan’s tone was a little sharp, but the sadness in her eyes reflected her grief.