I was thinking the other day of memories I have of Christmas. Unlike Fiona Gallagher, the heroine of my December Blaze, my memories are all very happy ones–but a few stand out.
My earliest one dates back to the year when I was two and a half.
And it isn’t Christmas Day or Santa or the presents I remember that year. In fact, I don’t remember those at all. It’s Christmas Eve that stands out because that was the day my mom and my brand new baby sister came home from the hospital.
I can still picture the Christmas tree tucked in a corner of the living room. The lights are on and there’s a fire crackling in the fireplace. But what I remember most clearly is standing on the couch in the living room, peering out the front window, and waiting to see the ambulance pull up at the curb. Because that’s how my mom and the new baby were scheuled to arrive.
According to my mom, I paid very little attention to her or my new sister. It seems I was totally fascinated by the ambulance. (I can still see it with the big red light fhalsing around and around. Amazing!)
The next Christmas that stands out in my mind was when when I was five, and my sister and I were living temporarily with my grandmother, my great-grandfather and my Aunt Mary.
My Aunt Mary fascinated me. She was a single woman who worked and went out on dates, and my sister and I were always welcome in her room. She used to let us play with her make up and she never tired of answering questions or helping us put on nail polish or letting us try on her clothes.
That Christmas Eve for some reason, I was allowed to sleep in her bed. And that was the night that I heard reindeer land on the roof. No kidding! I really heard the bells and the sound of the hoofbeats. But I was very quiet and I pretended I was asleep. The next morning, there were lots of presents under the tree, and I remember getting a tea set. The plates and cups and saucers were blue.
I also recall having a conversation with my great-grandfather about how Santa delivered the presents because there was no fireplace in that house. He had it covered though. He told me that he’d let Santa in the back door. Probably right after I’d heard the reindeer land on the roof.
My great-grandfather was a fascinating man too. He chewed tobacco and spit into a shiny brass cuspidor. And he always ate his dessert first–just in case he died before the meal ended. My grandmother wouldn’t let my sister and me join him–not even on Christmas.
The final memory I’ll share is my son Kevin’s first Christmas. He was three months old, and my husband and I surprised each other with the same gift–a movie camera. Talk about an O. Henry “Gift of the Magi” Christmas! We returned one and used the money to buy a projector and a screen.
Which Chritmas memories stand out in your mind?
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My favorite Christmas memories reach back to when my parents were still alive and active. My dad would take all of us and we would go to the Christmas tree lot and select a tree to bring home. Then he would sit back tell the rest of us where to put the lights and ornaments on the tree. He would say since he bought the tree and brought it home and set it up he had done his share of the work and we had to decorate it while he rested.
The last Christmas with my mom is the one that stands out the best. Christmas was her favorite holiday ever and she really tried to make it big for my siblings and me, even though we didn’t have much money when I was growing up. That Christmas was the year the Cabbage Patch Kids had just come out and it was pretty much the only thing I had asked for that year. Some how, my mom found a way to not only get my doll, but one for my sister, brother, and cousin. We had actually finished opening up gifts and had breakfast before we were even given the dolls. My mom was so very excited that she had tears streaming down her face. She passed away about 6 months later and I still have my doll to the day.
One Christmas that really stands out in my mind is the one from when i was 3. For Christmas that year, i got a Molly doll (from the show “The Big Comfy Couch”), and i remember unwrapping it, my eyes lighting up and me squealing and getting all excited and thanking my Grandma (the one who gave it to me) to death. And i still have that doll to this very day, and I’m almost 17 years old. Very, very, fond memories are attached to that doll. Another one that stands out is the one from when i was 7. My uncle was coming for Christmas that year, and i was so excited about him coming that i actually unwrapped his present for him, a toaster-oven, he wasn’t displeased, i seem to remember that he just laughed. And yet another one that stands out in my mind is the Christmas from the year i was 8 or so. I got a huge stuffed Elmo that year from my mom, he was like three feet tall and i was in love with Elmo and Sesame Street in general at the time, and i still have that Elmo somewhere or other. And i remember giving my Grandpa pajamas three years in a row, because he is very hard to shop for, and he still has and wears them. And a Christmas Eve that stands out in particular is one from the year i was 9 or so. We flew down to my Grandparents for Christmas every year, and my mom and i slept in a bedroom in the basement, she always wraps presents on Christmas eve and i of course was banned from our room until she finished. I went in there for some reason or other, and she was in the midst of wrapping a present for me (a book on the human body and anatomy), i startled her so much that she screamed and woke my grandfather who came all worried to the top of the stairs, we calmed him down and mom explained that i startled her. He kind of Hmmpfd and said i thought you broke your hip or something!