GHOSTS OF CHRISTMAS PAST

Wow...At 58 I have a lot of Christmas past memories! 

My first Christmas was in 1953...I was 6 months old.  We lived in a little tiny "flat top" house on Prison Camp Road in Lillington, NC.  My brother would have been 9 years old and it would have been his second Christmas with his new dad.  I'm sure he felt a little pushed back with the new bundle of joy in the family getting the most attention!  Oh well..it wasn't MY fault....and I WAS cute as a bug in a rug!

My brother and I shared many wonderful Christmas mornings and probably due to the age difference we never fought and had a great time together.  Of course I don't remember that first Christmas, but remember MANY more after that!  Tradition in our family was to go to bed on Christmas Eve with an undecorated tree...the PERFECT tree according to my daddy....and wake up Christmas morning to the most beautifully decorated tree I had ever seen!  It had bubble lights, old family ornaments and tinsel....Tinsel like you've never seen!  My parents would put 15 to 20 boxes of tinsel on that tree, one strand at the time...It had to be hung JUST right...only about an inch on the branch with the rest hanging down perfectly straight, over and over and over on each branch....It glittered like an icy wonderland with the bubble lights giving each strand a different color.  I thought we had the most beautiful Christmas tree in the whole world....and I may have been right!  And to think that Santa Claus decorated it made it even more special.

Memories of tricycles, banana bikes and Schwinn's....Betsy Wetsy dolls, Chatty Cathy, Thumbelina and Barbie...Lots and lots of games and gloves.  Sweet memories of growing up with a great family at Christmas!  I still remember the first presents that my brother picked out, bought and gave to me.  He was working at Kelly and Randall Drug Store and with his hard earned money he bought presents for everybody!  I got a green alpaca v-neck sweater and a bottle of White Shoulders perfume.  I wore that sweater til it was was just totally worn out and still think of Bobby when I put on my White Shoulders.  These two presents were probably the best ones I ever got because I worshipped the ground he walked on...and he had picked those our JUST FOR ME!

I guess the next big Christmas memory for me would be my first Christmas in my own home with a new husband and a new life.  Hang on to your hats...I got married my sophomore year in high school...to my BEST friend.  We had 11 fantastic Christmas' together....lots of laughter....making $50 turn into 50 gifts...Christmas Eve parties at my parents, Christmas morning at his parents...lots of pretty silly looking Christmas trees.  Oh and let's not forget Christmas Eve at my Aunt Leona's!  She always included us just like we were one of her children and laid out a spread of the BEST food in town, including her famous homemade ham and biscuits!  Miss Randy, my parents and my Aunt Leona...but still have fun holiday memories with all of them. 

Then comes parenthood and having children of my own to start our own Christmas traditions!  How sweet is that?  There can't possibly be better memories than your own babies growing up and being able to play Santa Claus.  Our Christmas Eves were spent at my parent's house where their annual Open House would be held.  Friends, old and new, gathered at their house for fun, music, holiday cheer (if you know what I mean) and lots of good food.  This was my father's favorite night of the year.  There were people that came year after year from my first Christmas til it was now my boy's waiting for St. Nick.  Sometimes Tommy Brown would show up in his Santa suit....some couples would bring their children who were now grown and home for the holiday..and there was always a dog or two in the mix.  Many, many fond memories of Christmas Eve at Paul and Dolores McDonald's!  Then it was back home to get the boys in bed so Santa could come.  Believe me, they were always passed out within minutes after the party at Grandaddy and MeeMa's!  I'd be up the rest of the night putting Santa Claus together and getting food ready for Christmas morning brunch.  The boys always got up and were allowed to see and play with their Santa Claus goodies but we had to wait for the others before the gifts were unwrapped.  Granny Ann, PaPa Eldon, Meema, Grandaddy, usually Johnny Todd and Aunt Bea from across the street....what a great crowd to enjoy presents and then the adults had a Christmas morning casserole with fresh ambrosia and ham/biscuits while the kids played with their new toys.    I sure do miss the look on their little faces when they'd come out of their bedroom to see what Santa had left!  We'd have the early afternoon for ol' Ma to relax, then head up on the hill to Meema's for gifts and dinner with the whole family.  We had some wonderful Christmas day's up on that hill!

I guess the most out of the ordinary Christmas memory we have is the year my son Zack and I decided to just get outta dodge for the holidays.  My parents had passed away.  My other son was not going to be available for Christmas...and there was just the two of us.  At the last minute we decided to heck with sitting around during the holidays with our lips poked out.....So we booked a cruise and off we went.  Definitely a different holiday for us, but we had a ball....A one time event, as we now know that no matter how small the family Christmas needs to be at HOME!  Home is the magic word.

Now I've got LouLou.  My boys are grown...My parents and grandparents are gone...I'm the old one and the festivities have gotten a whole lot smaller....But we still have a fun Christmas...with family and friends.  I have continued the tradition of the Christmas Eve party, but this year that's been put on hold.  Just not enough time with the new job to get everything in order.  LouLou is what will make THIS Christmas so special.  I get another chance to see the excitement of Christmas through the eyes of a child...and LouLou does the bestest job of entertaining MeeMaw!



Looking forward to making more memories in years to come...Wish I could get all of my photos on here, but alas, the old scanner has conked out on me as I work on this project.  I guess the purpose of this particular blog is to remind us ALL that Christmas is a time for family...as we grow older our families change...as do our traditions....but Christmas still comes and Christmas still goes...and it's in our hands what we choose to do with it.  I choose to cherish every minute of it!

Merry CHRISTmas to you all...and don't forget...keep on dancin'!

Kristyemac

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