I’ve been in a very nostalgic mood during this holiday season. So I set the way-back machine to memories of the Christmases I enjoyed with my mother, father and sister way back when. Here’s some of what I thought of.
**Being handed the latest Sears catalog and scanning the toys and sporting goods sections for things I’d like to ask Santa for.
**In the days before VCRs there was also my urgent calling out to my parents to check out a TV commercial that was on for some game or toy I wanted for Christmas.
**The annual excited drive to Yorktown Mall each December to sit on Santa’s lap and offer up my gift wishes.
**Some of those early Christmas presents gifts my sister Marianne and I asked for included games like “Ants in the Pants”, “Don’t Break the Ice”, “Sure-Shot”, “Hands Down”, “Bobby Hull Table Hockey” and the one that got me hooked into media, “The Say-It Play It” tape recorder!
**I also remember when Mary was starting to get more ‘mature’ gifts like her “My Sin” perfume and special hair care products.
**Stocking Stuffers ranged from the practical like tooth brushes and combs to the fun stuff like York Peppermint patties & other sweets. There’d always be a little stash of cash money and I’d land rolls of hockey tape and pucks to add to my ice time fun. By the time I was a junior in high school, mom and dad knew I liked the occasional oat soda, so I’d get a six pack of Michelob beer wrapped beneath my stocking.
**My parents had a real talent for gift giving drama. They would always make sure the best or biggest surprise present Mary and I had coming was the last one we opened. One of the most special gifts I ever got was when unbeknownst to me my dad had a professional photographer take photos of our Boston Terrier ‘Molly’. Pop was worried Christmas of ’89 would be our aging dog’s last so he wanted me to have a cherished remembrances of her. The best photo was blown up to poster sized and framed. Folks, my dad was the best!
**In the weeks leading to Christmas day my mom would bake seven or eight different cookies. She made loads of each type, my favorite being the round Buckeyes made of peanut butter with chocolate wrapped around them. All the cookies were stored in airtight Tupperware containers on our makeshift fridge, the table on our back porch, and a good portion of those treats were shared with relatives and neighbors.
**When it came to Christmas cards, mom didn’t just sign and mail them out. She’d write thoughtful messages to each person on her list. There would be updates on our family and she’d offer personalized best wishes to every card recipient.
**My dad owned a beauty shop and in the weeks and days leading up to Christmas he’d come home with gifts from grateful customers. There would be boxes of Fannie May Meltaways (a big favorite for all of us) and lots of booze; bottles of Crown Royal, Cutty Sark and Beefeater Gin. But the craziest thing was all the cartons of cigarettes my dad would get. Cartons of cancer causing smokes! Merry Christmas, right? Like Pop, most of his customers smoked and they’d load him up with enough squares to last til Valentine’s Day.
**Watching Garfield Goose in the afternoon and waiting to see which holiday video would be shown that day. There was Frosty the Snowman, Suzy Snowflake and everyone’s all time favorite, Hardrock, Coco & Joe.”
** Each year, all four of us would contribute to putting up our Christmas tree, which was never done before Thanksgiving. At the bottom of the tree was a manger and animal set-up that my mom bought in her single years. Under the tree and manger there was a beautiful soft white blanket with a felt and sequined Joseph, Mary and Jesus stitched on it by my mother and sister. Our cat Miss Priss loved sitting and sleeping on that blanket as the warm glow of colored lights blinked above her. Prissy was pure white and sometimes we could only tell she was under the tree by spotting her glowing green eyes.
**My paternal grandparents would come to celebrate with us on Christmas Eve then visit other family members the next day. The last time my grandpa Kahler read us the story of Christmas from the Bible was as warm and moving as the first time he ever did it.
**By the time I was twelve, throughout the year my dad was working long hours at his beauty shop, mom did part time book keeping and waitressing, Mary was busy with her after school job in the dietary department at Elmhurst Hospital and I was playing organized baseball and hockey. So having us all together for a few days at Christmas was very special. Just the four of us exchanging gifts, eating great meals topped by those homemade cookies and exchanging hugs, kisses, laughs and love for each other. Those were grand times!
My parents and Mary are gone and have been for years. I always miss them but on Christmas day things can grow darker in wishing they were still here. However, I have vivid memories of all we shared and that brings in some much needed light. Those warm thoughts will never leave me. And I thank God and Jesus for that!
I’ll close off with my all time favorite song of the holiday season and wish all of you and your families a very Merry Christmas.
NEXT WEEK: Looking back at how the year 2019 graded out for me.