December 24, 2020. Madison, Mississippi. Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve Mass at the cathedral in Vancouver was the first Catholic mass I had ever attended. The service was very different from any church service in my life. The service was held in Latin and we were not famiar with the standing, sitting and kneeling. And the incense was unusual for someone brought up in The Salvation Army. I remember we had to watch carefully to figure out what to do. But it was interesting and we enjoyed the service. I lived in Vancouver from 1948 to 1953. A group of the young people from church, The Vancouver Satvation Army Citadel, decided to attend Mass on Christmas Eve. I have no idea who came up with the idea but we were a lively group so somebody came up with the scheme. My sister was in the group along with our buddies. I recollection was that there were about 8 or 10 of us. Ater Mass, we all went to eat chinese food in Chinatown, which was large. Our group often went to eat chinese food after events at the corps so we knew where to go for the best buys. And it was not far from our church. By that time, several of the boys had cars so took us all home. We attended two or three Christmas Eve masses in Vancouver all with the same routine. I bet my parents were happy to finally have us home. But we had had a good time. It is another happy memory of Christmas Eve from my past.