“Hooray! It’s almost Chanukah!” says Joan.
Teresa looks puzzled. “I thought it was after Christmas.”
“No, silly, it changes every year.” Should I try that new sweet potato latke recipe? she wonders.
“What do you mean?” Teresa puts down her latte. “I mean, Christmas is always the same day. Always has been.”
“Are you sure?” asks Joan. “Yes, it’s been December 25 for a long time, but some people say that date was actually chosen much later. Anyway, some people follow a lunar calendar, instead of the Roman one we do in the west. So the dates of the holidays are different each year.”
“Hmn,” says Teresa. She doesn’t like to admit when she doesn’t know something. Sometimes she just says, “Well, people say different things.” But she knows she’s out of her element here. Ask me about Catechism, she thinks, and we’re all set. She doesn’t say that, though. Instead she says, “Well, did you get your gifts yet?”
“Are you kidding?” asks Joan. “With my schedule and those kids?”
“So what are you going to do?” asks Teresa.
“Simple. I’m going to call San Francisco Jewelry Doctor. They’ve been helping me with great gifts for years.”
“Do they also do Christmas gifts?”
“No. Only Chanukah.” Joan laughs, seeing Teresa thinks she’s serious. “Come on. Of course. But lucky you. You just have to choose one gift for each person. We have to come up with eight—one for each night.”
“Oh, right,” says Teresa. "That’s because they only had enough oil in the temple to last one night, but it lasted eight, right?” At least I remember something from school, she thinks.
“Well, actually, that story was added later,” says Joan, “but I’ll tell you about that tomorrow.”
Teresa takes another sip of her latte. She’ll probably forget. I thought I understood at least part of this. “I liked the oil story,” she says. “I thought it was cool.”
“I know,” says Joan, pouring tea into her cup. “Supposedly, it was added so the Romans wouldn’t feel threatened by the real story, which is about a military victory. But I love the idea of the oil lasting eight days and eight nights, so I’m keeping it. Besides, otherwise how do you explain the latkes?”
“I think after a while they become our own holidays,” says Teresa, thinking I will never understand this. “I still like Santa Claus, too.” She eats the head off the gingerbread man. “Okay, enough religious history for today. What are you getting the girls?”
“Charm bracelets. The first night they get one charm, the second, another, and so on until the seventh night. The next morning I give the charms to the Jewelry Doctor and she puts them on the bracelet I selected. When we light the candles on the eighth night, the girls open their packages and—voila!—the finished bracelet. Cool, huh?”
“Not bad,” says Teresa. I should do something like that with my girls, she thinks. Twelve days of Christmas, and all. “What’s that number again?”
“415-796-3969. Ask for Laynie.”
San Francisco Jewelry Doctor. Miraculous gifts, every time.
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