For the Love of Family
A McCleod Christmas
Brandy York
The Ashland Beacon
There’s nothing quite like being home for the holidays, especially when your home is filled with the sights, sounds, and smells of the season. Add the ones you love most, along with timeless traditions, and you have the perfect setting for a magical Christmas to remember.
I recently spent some time chatting with Leslee McCleod of Ashland, Kentucky, about what Christmas means to her. Leslee is the wife of Tom McCleod and the mother of three grown children—Blake, Matt, and Sarah. The traditions they hold dear to this day began long before their time, passed down from Leslee and Tom’s childhoods.
Leslee fondly remembers spending time helping her mother—known as MiMi to the grandchildren—decorate and prepare special dishes. One of her favorites is chicken and dumplings, a dish she makes every Thanksgiving and Christmas. She reminisced about how, as a young girl, her mother would let her drop the dumplings into the chicken broth. Years later, she brought her daughter Sarah into the kitchen to enjoy doing the very same thing. Leslee says the root of her passion for cooking and baking comes directly from her mother and grandmother.
She shared a heartwarming memory of how her mother was always baking, sending something fresh with her father each day as he left for work at Armco. Her father earned the nickname “Sweets,” which ended up painted on the side of his metal lunchbox. He also loved to treat his family to sweets, often bringing home chocolate-glazed donuts from May’s in the iconic white paper bag after a double shift. “It was the small things like that which made us smile,” said Leslee.
Christmas Eve was always spent at Tom’s parents’ home, where they made countless memories with their children and cousins. Tom’s parents loved having a big Christmas celebration and were sure to have great gifts under the tree for everyone. Tom’s mother was German, and the family lovingly referred to his parents as Oma and Opa (German for Grandma and Grandpa). “She always had German sweets and handmade ornaments on the tree,” Leslee recalled, “and we were lucky to have some as well.” MiMi was always included in the Christmas Eve gathering with Oma and Opa and loved watching the kids open their gifts.
As the classic tune The Christmas Song says about the little ones who “will find it hard to sleep tonight,” so was the case for the McCleod children. After Christmas Eve at Oma and Opa’s, they would return home and try to settle into bed, hoping for a good night’s sleep while Santa made his rounds. Leslee laughed as she remembered how difficult it was to get them to sleep, given their level of excitement! This kind of anticipation wasn’t foreign to her; she shared how, as children, she and her sister would try their hardest to fall asleep on Christmas Eve in their shared bedroom, knowing that Santa wouldn’t leave gifts if they were caught awake when he arrived!
On Christmas morning, the celebration unfolded in their large basement, and MiMi never missed an opportunity to see the children’s faces when they stumbled out of bed to find the presents left by Santa. “My mom was the sweetest, kindest mom a daughter could ask for,” Leslee said. “She was a bit frail and lived with polio her whole life, but she never let that stop her.” They made sure to capture their holiday moments on camera, recording the kids’ faces lighting up with pure joy, while also expressing gratitude to their parents and grandparents for making the big Christmas celebration a reality.
Leslee and Tom were both raised in the church and have a strong relationship with Christ, the reason for the season that they love and celebrate. They made sure to share their deep faith with their children. “Without being a believer in Christ, there’s no way Tom and I could have gotten through tragedies like our house fire,” she testified. “It’s everything and ALL you need.”
There’s no doubt that family is at the heart of the McCleod Christmas. This special time is cherished by all, used as an opportunity to give thanks for all they’ve been blessed with, while also remembering those who have gone before them—those they cared for deeply and created lasting memories with. “We had a great childhood, and I know Tom and I both tried to instill some of the same things into our kids,” Leslee said.
Whether your family is related by blood or chosen from your circle of friends, it’s never too late to start lasting traditions—and they don’t have to be elaborate. Perhaps in past holiday seasons you’ve been stressed and scrambling. Maybe you’ve spent them scrolling through social media while your kids played with their new toys. Or maybe you skipped the homemade treats and bought store-bought ones instead because you didn’t feel like cleaning up the mess in the kitchen. Let this be the year you relax, put down your phone, make the mess, bake the cookies, and soak up every precious second of life that you’ve been blessed with—next to those you love. Merry Christmas!