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CANE RIVER CACHET ? December 8, 2001
By Ada D. Jarred
Meredith Wilson?s ?It?s Beginning to Look Like Christmas? was a hit melody of the 1951 season. He wrote both the words and music. His creation could be a theme song for Natchitoches, which is noted for its Christmas lights and activities.
The celebrated American author Kate Chopin and her husband Oscar moved to New Orleans in 1870. Nine years later the family, which now included 6 children, transferred to Cloutierville so that Oscar could run a store and family plantations. Within three years Kate was a widow.
Although Chopin returned to her native St. Louis before she began writing for publication, the strong influence of Louisiana scenes and peoples is obvious in many of her works.
The Kate Chopin home in Cloutierville is a National Historic Landmark, one of several within the Cane River National Heritage Area. The home is owned and operated by the Association for the Preservation of Historic Natchitoches.
Kate Chopin wrote a seasonal story entitled ?Madame Martel?s Christmas Eve.? To summarize, Madame Martel was a lonely, grieving widow on Christmas Eve. Even her children and servants has deserted her because, as Chopin says, ?Madame Martel was one of those women...who make a luxury of grief.? Realizing that her youngest child Lulu is nearby visiting friends, Madame Martel decides to fetch the child. She moves through the village, resenting the music and laughter she hears and chilling every festive acquaintance she meets.
Arriving at the big house, Madame Martel depresses the crowd of merrymakers. People rebound quickly; however, and warmly try to pull her into the party. No, she responds; she has merely come to get Lulu. There is a uproar. No one else wants Lulu to leave, and the child begs to remain. ??Of course your mama will let you stay, now that she sees you are well and amusing yourself,? asserted a comfortably fat old lady with a talent for arranging matters. ?Your mama would never be so selfish!??
Madame Martel is stunned at being judged selfish. Not wanting to inflict her selfishness on others, she embraces Lulu and returns home alone.
Climbing the front stairs, Madame Martel realizes the light in her sitting room is brighter. She looks in through a window, ?And there before the fire, in her own armchair, sat her husband.? Madame Martel tries every trick to dismiss the illusion. She closes her eyes; she presses her fingers on her eyeballs; she imagines placing her hand on the shoulder of the apparition. Before she reaches the chair the figure jumps to his feet and grabs her.
?Mother! Mother! Mother! What is it? Are you ill?? It is her son Gustave, wanting to surprise her by arriving unexpectedly.
Madame Martel is delighted to see her son, so like his father at a similar age. She does not explain why his appearance surprised her so.
Gustave defends his decision to appear, ?...After all there?s no place for a fellow at Christmas like home.? She begs him to say that he knew she wanted him at home, but he insists that he couldn?t stay away, that he wanted to be with her.
?You know, Gustave, it won?t be gay here at home....?
?Oh well, if we can?t be gay, there?s nothing to keep us from being happy, mom.?
And Madame Martel realizes she is very, very happy.
Several years ago a Natchitoches storyteller was asked to entertain a tour group by telling Kate Chopin stories. Because it was Christmas Eve, one of the stories she chose to tell was ?Madame Martel?s Christmas Eve.? The group was quiet and attentive. Afterwards, the tourists filed out, some pausing to thank the storyteller for the entertainment.
One of the listeners, however, marched up to the storyteller and announced; ?Now I know why I came on this trip!?
?I beg your pardon. I don?t understand,? responded the storyteller.
?I always spend the holidays at home, but something told me to come on this trip. Now I realize why. I lost my husband earlier this year. I have only one son, and I have leaned too heavily on him, expecting him to take his father?s place. This story helped me to understand that I must not depend so completely on my son. He has his own life to lead.?
Kate Chopin wrote in the 1800s, but her words still speak to people. So do Meredith Wilson?s:
It?s beginning to look a lot like Christmas;
Soon the bells will start,
And the thing that will make them ring is the carol that you sing
Right within your heart.
Will you have an epiphany this Christmas Eve?
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