UPDATED December 2025
When I was growing up, heading to Grandma Riley’s house for Christmas was almost as exciting as the presents waiting under the tree. Every year my family would load up the old station wagon and make the drive south to Fort Scott, Kansas.
I’d usually fall asleep somewhere along the highway, but without fail, I’d wake up the second those station-wagon tires hit the old brick streets on the edge of town. That familiar rumble—bump-bump-bump—meant one thing: we were almost at Grandma’s.
We usually arrived before the aunts, uncles, and cousins, which—looking back—was a rare gift. Grandma’s house wasn’t big. In fact, now that I’m an adult, I honestly have no idea how we all fit in there without violating several fire codes. But when it was just me and Grandma for those first few minutes, time slowed down.
She’d be in the kitchen, busy filling the whole house with the smells of turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie. And even though she was juggling three pans and a timer, she somehow made me feel like I was the only person in the world.
Sometimes she’d even let me help set the tables—both the kid table and the all-important adult table. Normally, setting the table wasn’t exactly the highlight of my childhood. But at Christmas? It meant bringing out the Ruby Red Dishes.
If you never grew up around a set of precious, don’t-even-breathe-on-them antique dishes, let me explain: touching one without permission was a gamble. Touching one and breaking it? You could go ahead and pick out the switch you wanted to be whipped with. And choose carefully.
But when those Ruby Red Dishes came out… Christmas just felt complete. They were the sparkle on the table, the angel on the tree, the finishing touch that made the whole house feel magical.
To this day, the sight of those dishes—sparkling, deep red, almost glowing with holiday light—comes back to me every December. And it brings the same warmth as those brick streets rumbling under the old station-wagon tires.
I hope your holidays this year are filled with moments just as special, just as warm, and just as memorable as Grandma Riley’s Ruby Red Dishes.
– Cary
ClassicLawns
