By Hannah Skipper
Ge nerally speaking, a Christmas Eve church service is a solemn occasion. One should not make a lot of noise or fool around while attending. This story, however, is about the time I was accidentally not on my best behavior. I don’t remember how old I was, just that I was a teenager, and my family were taking up two rows of pews near the back of the sanctuary. Most importantly though, I was sitting next to one of my uncles and my long blonde hair was in a partial updo. Now, it’s tradition at my church to close the Christmas Eve service with the lighting of candles and singing of “Silent Night”, and it was after I got my candle lit that the fun started. As I turned to my uncle to “pass the light”, my hair fell off my shoulder and nearly encountered the flame. Thankfully, my uncle saved me and, we contend, everyone in the church by jerking my head back at the last moment. Then, after a pause to contemplate what almost happened, we both cracked up. Unfortunately for us, no one else in our family noticed the dire straits we’d all just avoided, but they did hear us laughing about it. Needless to say, they were all mortified to realize their relation to the two morons who were fooling around while the rest of the congregation was solemnly singing and, to this day, my uncle and I are forbidden from sitting next to each other at important events.