Texas Wigilia

Every year, on Christmas Eve, Steve's family meets at Aunt Maggie and Uncle Lenny's house for a traditional Polish Wigilia (pronounced va-le-ah). "Wigilia (from the Latin term vigilare meaning "to await") is the Polish name for Christmas Eve. When the first star appears in the sky, the Christmas tree is lit and the dinner begins. The Christmas Eve meal starts with the sharing of the oplatek (bread wafer) and exchanging of wishes. Although there are plenty of dishes on the table, this is traditionally a meatless dinner." --- Wigilia, www.polishcenter.org.

Since we did not travel to Penn- sylvania this Christmas, we hosted our own Texas Wigilia. Steve sauteed delicious pierogies for all of us and we shared a wafer in the line thanks to Aunt Maggie's care package. And everyone present had at least a little taste of pickled herring for good luck in 2007 - Grandmom would have been proud. Friends: Dan, Jean, Mia, Grandma Roberta, Madhu, and Rakesh joined our family in this wonderful tradition. We missed our Pennsylvania family so much but felt close with Wigilia.