Christmas Stories???

Do you have a Christmas which you remember above all others, that one Christmas which sticks in your mind as the defining moment of Christmas??

If so, what was it?

I don't remember the exact year, but it must have been about 1971 or so. I think I was about 8 years old or so. I remember there was a lot of stress in the couple days leading up to Christmas day. I wasn't really old enough to understand why all the stress, but as I recall it had to do with whether all the family members would make it home. I remember it was the only Christmas where everything seemed like the 'last minute' and everything coming down to the wire. The whole family always got together for Christmas, both grandmothers, both sisters, their husbands, nephews and Mom & Dad. This Christmas just seemed like it all came together at the very last moment for some reason.

I remember decorating the Christmas tree, and how perfect it looked, better than ever before. I remember the giant stack of pile of presents under the tree, it seemed like more than ever before. And I remember on Christmas Eve in the late afternoon how it began to snow, really snow! I can remember looking out the window next to the tree and wondering to myself if we'd have a "white Christmas". I couldn't ever recall a truly white Christmas before that. I mean sometimes there was still remnants of snow around, but Christmas was usually brown. Did I mention it started to snow? I remember thinking how it would be difficult getting to midnight mass with my sister, but we made it. Saved us from having to go Christmas day was about the biggest memory of that event.

By bedtime on Christmas Eve my heart was racing like never before. For some reason I was amped up to the Moon. I was always amped up on Christmas Eve, but this time was different for some reason. There was no way I was going to get any sleep...so I thought.

When I awoke on Christmas Day at oh-dark-thirty the ritual was the same, sneak down and get your stocking and open the goodies inside. My ritual was to put my covers over my head like a tent and open my stocking goodies by flashlight. It wasn't that you got a whole lot of stuff in your stocking, just some treats and a few nick-knacks, but it was Christmas! Christmas was finally here!

My parents had this agonizing tradition of having my favorite breakfast (French Toast) with all the fixings BEFORE anyone could open presents. I only got French Toast about twice a year, and I remember the frustration of having to try to hurry through my favorite breakfast to see what Santa had brought for everyone. It was the only time I gobbled it down, and anxiously helped Mom clean the table and dishes. C'mon people, let's get to the presents part! When breakfast was over we all went to the living room, and I remember it struck me that I hadn't really looked out the window yet. Oh my gosh, we got dumped on with snow!! There must have been 24" of snow and it was still snowing...a truly WHITE CHRISTMAS!

Now, I'd never seen the 1954 movie 'White Christmas' with Bing Crosby (at least I don't think I had) by that point in my life, and I would later see the similarities between the movie and that day in 1971, but it was a very similar feeling. It had snowed so much we were actually snowed-in! All of us, together, snowed in. There was a fire in the fireplace and food aplenty, but just that insulated feeling of everyone together and being snowed in was magical.

I remember I got just about everything I could have wanted for Christmas...and then some, but for some odd reason that wasn't the point. I can even remember thinking to myself I would always remember that Christmas, and how I needed to take advantage of everything about it. Suddenly opening presents didn't seem nearly as important as getting outside and trying to make a snow angel, but the snow was too deep for that. I remember getting a couple gifts where it would have been better if there was no snow to try them out, but it didn't matter. It snowed, it was Christmas and we were all together. That's what mattered.

To this day, I look back on that Christmas nearly 50 years ago as the moment Christmas became more about the moment than about what 'stuff' you got.

I remember it like it was yesterday.

God Bless, and Merry Christmas!

Love this! Thank you for sharing your memories in such an eloquent way through a child's eyes.
Merry Christmas to you and yours Flyingclaydisk.

Christmas Rainbows to you and yours from over The Pond
Jane

a reply to: angelchemuel

It's interesting; I've been told I have an eidetic memory, I remember the smallest and most vivid details about certain categories of things throughout the history of my life. For example, I can remember every single phone number of every person I've ever known. I have no idea why, it's completely useless because most of those phone numbers have long since been disconnected or issued to others. But, I remember them...all. I can recall every single phone number from everyone on my block from the time I was old enough to pick up a phone. And ever since. Personal experiences are another example of things I recall in intricate detail...like the story above.

In fact, I can even provide an example of that day; I recall standing out in the yard looking back at the house. All the outside Christmas lights were on, but all the bushes were covered in snow. I can recall seeing the dull glimmer of the colored light bulbs under the snow covering the bushes. I even recall marveling at how some of the lights had managed to melt through the snow. It was a wonder they worked, with all the snow. Remember, this was back during the time when outside Christmas lights had actual incandescent bulbs in them not the LED's like today. The reason this sight struck me the way it did was for a reason, and that reason was I would always help Dad get out the Christmas lights shortly after Thanksgiving, and sort through them, meticulously replacing bulbs which had gone out or broken over the past year in storage.

I remember one bush in particular, it was the last bush on the left, right at the corner of the house. It was shaped like a mini Christmas tree (though taller than me). I remember I walked up to it, and touched the snow over one of the bulbs. The snow had melted to this paper thin little sphere around the bulb, and just a mere touch of a finger broke through the covering of snow to expose the bulb. I don't know why I remember that, it serves no real purpose other than just a memory.

My internal grey matter 'hard drive' is clogged up with all sorts of stuff like this. Many times I recall the detail of a certain situation more so than the situation itself. No idea why. Intricate details, like the stroke of a pen on a certain item in slow motion, or the unique smell of something, or a feeling I got at a certain location at a very specific time.

It's weird, I know.

Merry Christmas!

Everyone's phone numbers????!!! That's going some! I can only remember my parent's landline from around 7 years old and for some reason my friends parent's landline from the same time....and my own mobile number that I have had since I first owned a mobile from about almost 30 years ago lol!

rainbows
Jane

a reply to: angelchemuel

Yep, it's even worse than that too! It's not just phone numbers of friends, neighbors and relatives either. It's phone numbers of business contacts, coworkers, cellphone numbers, pretty much any phone number I've ever known. What's really weird is, if someone tells me their phone number and asks me 5 minutes later what it is, I won't remember it, but if I write it down once, or punch it into a phone once...I'll likely never forget it.

I had this girlfriend once in HS, and she had this electronic game her family used to play called Simon (I think). It was this round thing about the size of a frisbee and it had 4 lighted buttons on it. The buttons would light up in a certain sequence and then you'd have to repeat that sequence. It would start with like 3 lights, and it would increase by 1 light every sequence. I could clean up and make people's heads explode on that game, going for 40,50 and even 60 light sequences, but here's the weird thing; when I'd finally mess up it would always be on the newest light, not the 50 or so after it. So it has something to do with patterns (at least part of it).

Mine is a song I wrote called: A Real Christmas Tree

We sort of had one this morning.

So, our rule is that if we catch our kiddo up at all hours of the night sneaking time on our computers or on his school iPad, he's grounded from all tech devices for at least the next day. It's an impulse control issue among other things.

So ... like all kiddos, he has trouble sleeping the night before Christmas, and guess what he decided he'd try to do? Guess what we caught him doing at 3am? Ayup ... sneaking time on his iPad in his loft.

So now we're in a pickle. The rule would be that he's grounded from all tech for the next day, and ordinarily we could follow through just fine on that ... BUT ... his Christmas is a Nintendo Switch and three games.

So we got stuck with a rock and hard place dilemma. Do we hold his presents for a day? Do we let him open them and then not let him touch them for a day? The rules say we should do one of those when we'd planned to let him open them and have all day to play as much as he wants before restricting his screen time with them.

In the end, we explained that Jesus is the reason for the season, the greatest gift of all, and because of Him, we might all hope to be forgiven. In the spirit of the day and only for that reason, we'd bend the rule.

But, seriously ... of all the days to lose control and break the rule, and the one rule that would have the stickiest wicket consequence guaranteed to ruin his day should we follow through on it! /facepalm

Christmas, birth of Jesus, has evolved into a worldwide religious and secular celebration, incorporating many pre-Christian and pagan traditions into the festivities. Kindly take care of poor around you, Jesus bless you.
Get ready for Christmas enjoyments and functions with fun.