Holiday Memories

Maze Runner

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 11, 2012
Messages
5,489
Reaction score
609
I'm sure some stand out for all of us. From the time I was about twelve till I was about seventeen, Christmas Eve was at our house. Both sides of the family, all my friends, my brother's friends, cousins brought their friends, and it was a ball! A lot of booze, a lot of underage sneaking into the kitchen for a belt out of the bottle. A lot of laughs and a lot of battles. One time, when I was about fifteen and I had disappeared in the middle of one Eve party, they found me lying on my bedroom floor, mostly conscious and quite content, but oblivious to the fact that I had not a stitch on. Ah, the good old days. How 'bout yous guys?
 

Chase

It Takes All of Us to End Racism
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 13, 2008
Messages
9,239
Reaction score
2,316
Location
Oregon, USA
Can't top yours. :greenie

In anticipation of New Year's Eve, not too much booze at our farm on the eve of Christmas. At both, I was the designated interpreter of ASL for my sister and her :deaf: pals on both eves. I signed 'til my hands cramped. :greenie

Marjorie Diane :2angel: passed away last February, so these are my first holidays without her happy signs or texts.
 

Maze Runner

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 11, 2012
Messages
5,489
Reaction score
609
Sorry, Chase. It can be a very rough time of year when we've lost someone close. Hang in there. buddy.
 

Siri Kirpal

Swan in Process
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 20, 2011
Messages
8,943
Reaction score
3,151
Location
In God I dwell, especially in Eugene OR
Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

Chase, you've got an extra angel signing (do you realize "signing" and "singing" are almost the same word) alleluia this Christmas.

I guess the oddest thing was I wore my famous kangaroo costume (no photos, sad to say) in the Christmas pageant of someone else's church at their request back when I was 8.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal
 

Maze Runner

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 11, 2012
Messages
5,489
Reaction score
609
Ha, you sure there are no photos and you just don't want to share? The first time I sang in front of people was at a first grade Christmas show when i sang "little drummer boy," and you know, there IS a picture, but I've got to find it. It was a duet, mind you, but my partner wouldn't sing! I kept nudging her, but she had an incredible case of stage fright. Off to find the photo...still looking (I know everyone is waiting with bated breath). Doesn't help that this computer has a cursor that dances all over the screen...
 
Last edited:

Chase

It Takes All of Us to End Racism
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 13, 2008
Messages
9,239
Reaction score
2,316
Location
Oregon, USA
Exactly like Ralphie, I wrote essays and letters to Santa for a Red Ryder 1000-shot BB gun. Mission accomplished and all good memories as I never shot out my eye or anyone else's.

Having experienced success, some Christmases later, I casted hints in a like manner (skipping letters to the North Pole) how I yearned for a longbow of at least 50-pound draw. With our last name tied irrevocably to Robin Hood, the wish was a natural. Christmas morning, I tore open the lengthy box only to find a little toy bow with suction-cup arrows. I tried to hide overwhelming devastation, but everyone said I failed miserably . . . until the real bow and quiver of target arrows were pulled from hiding. Yeah, my older siblings and mischievous uncles pranked me big time. :greenie
 

Maze Runner

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 11, 2012
Messages
5,489
Reaction score
609
That's a great story, Chase. They say good writing is about holding back. Maybe the same can be said of good gift giving.
 

MaryMumsy

the original blond bombshell
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 18, 2008
Messages
3,396
Reaction score
829
Location
Scottsdale, Arizona
One of my fondest Christmas memories was the year I had just turned 6 a couple months before.

We had never lived anywhere I could have a bike, and Santa brought me a bike. Except I knew it was my Dad. I was supposed to be in bed, but was up and hiding behind the partially opened bedroom door, peeking through the crack. I saw Dad wheeling it down the hallway. I never told him.

Some years later my younger brother learned how to ride a two-wheeler on that same bike.

MM
 

Cobalt Jade

Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 21, 2015
Messages
3,289
Reaction score
1,441
Location
Seattle
All my Christmases were great up to the age of 14, then the magic was gone. :-(

In my adult years, two of the best I had were in Mexico with my ex-husband's family. In Mexico, manger scenes take precedence over Santa and trees. My ex-laws had a sumptuous setup that included the creche on a hill, with wild animals, toy palm trees, outbuildings, and a miniature train that chugged around and around. The whole thing took up the space of a small bathroom (though it was in the dining room not a bathroom.) Also memorable was spending New Years Day in the Zocalo in Mexico City, seeing the Aztec priests giving blessings and touring the hidden areas of the national cathedral.
 

cmhbob

Did...did I do that?
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 28, 2011
Messages
5,743
Reaction score
4,839
Location
Green Country
Website
www.bobmuellerwriter.com
December brings memories of Messiah. My dad was a college music prof and conducted the College-Civic Symphonette in a Messiah performance on the first Sunday of December. Then the party afterward was at our house. That meant I got all kinds of snacks and goodies, plus the TV all to myself.

Christmas also brings memories of loss. My mother died Dec 21, 1998. Her sister, one of my favorite aunts, died Dec 21, 2012. Yep, same day, 14 years apart. Their sister-in-law died Dec 16, 2008. Not a fun week.
 

Siri Kirpal

Swan in Process
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 20, 2011
Messages
8,943
Reaction score
3,151
Location
In God I dwell, especially in Eugene OR
Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

I've always loved the Messiah. We did a Messiah sing-along one year at the local college.

When I was young, we had this rubbery sticky stuff (haven't seen it in decades) that we used to post the incoming Christmas cards on the moldings in the front rooms. The colored lights of the Christmas tree shining against those cards threw crystal cave colored patterns on the walls and ceilings.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal