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“For the first few years of our
relationship, my partner and I
found that the holidays were a
time that necessitated separa-
tion. Both families eagerly clam-
bered to have their respective
offspring at home fora week of
standard holiday fare. While nei-
ther family was particularly
unwelcoming of “the gay part-
ner,” the idea of being dragged
around in front of elderly rela-
tives who just didn’t understand
who we were or why we were
there, and regularly asked if we
were college room-mates or had
boyfriends, was enough to send
us off as singles to holiday fests
in different states. With Jenn
spending most of her time at var-
ious churches around Atlanta
and I forever smoking cigarettes
on my parents’ deck in arctic
Pennsylvania, arguing with my
father about whether or not
Christmas was pagan, we found
our holidays just lacked a certain
something.

“After a couple of seasons of
this, we decided it just wasn’t for
us. We wanted to be together dur-
ing the holidays. And regular
family holiday trap-
pings, anything that
emphasized the holi-
days were best cele-
brated as mom, dad,
brother and sister
around the fire, were
just not for us.

Whetheurl/the event you’re planning is a civil celebration for 300,
or dinner for 6...call Sarah Moran at Cloud 9 Caterers:

Phone (802) 65 5-7370 Fax (802) 655—7765 Email salncloud9@aOl.C0m

 

“So the first year we stayed
home, We had about $5 for
Christmas presents, so . we
wrapped everything to make it
more festive—used book and
bookmark received their own fes-
tive holiday wrappings. We had a
lovely fake tree we bought at
Target with about five ornaments
on it. We were in Dallas, so a fake
tree was definitely the norm; buy-
ing a real one would have
required a second job. But orna-
ments were hard to come by, and
costly. So we decorated just the
portion we could see from the
sofa.

“But in years since, things
have improved tremendously. I
think the Christmas we ran off to
Germany finally broke the ties
and incessant requests for us to
“come home” for the holidays. In
our minds, we are home.”’

—Carrie Rampp and Jenn
Ponder

  
 
 
 
 
  
 

“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.”

For over 10 years, Cloud 9 Caterers has been bringing
creative, customized menus to the table. Cloud 9 boasts an
extensive variety of signature menu items that take
advantage of produce unique to Vermont. We also
feature lavis/7 custom cakes and desserts created
by our Pastry Chef,‘ Patty Berringer.

gjgéj

  “P/0;

 

  
  
 
 

  
  
   

CLOUD 9 CATERERS
VERMONT

December 2000 1 Out in the Mountains |15_

1

 

  
 
  
 
 
 
  

  
 
  
  
 

, , , 'i"Wo.mefl:-'5
Circle of the
~ Sp‘ifit Ring
. A talisman of the
strength &, wisdom of
the feminine in
sterling silver & 14K,
5 , by Karen Klinefelter.

 
   
  

    
     

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