Christmas Memories

As I sit and remember Christmas of years past, these are some of my favorite memories. Some are happy, some sad and some are just downright funny...But they are all memories that I hold dear in my heart and are mine to keep forever.

Christmas Thru The Eyes Of A Child

As a child growing up, Christmas was always a magical time. I can remember that I would start anticipating the arrival of the Sears Wish Book soon after school started in the fall and once it arrived the countdown to Christmas officially began.

The Sears Wish Book was the most thumbed thru book in the house. With its arrival, my three siblings and myself would take turns looking thru the book and dreaming of the things we hoped to find under the tree on Christmas morning. By the time Christmas was here, the Sears Wish Book would look like it had been thru the war, with its cover long torn off and the pages were tattered, written on and folded over to mark that special thing you hoped Santa would bring.

Soon after Thanksgiving, there would be a parade downtown and Santa would arrive. We would than make several trips to Newberry's Department Store and go downstairs to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what we wanted him to bring us. He must have had a good memory, as those most wanted items were usually found under the tree Christmas morning.

On Christmas morning, we would awake between 4:00-6:00, creep down the stairs to peek and see if Santa had already visited us. Upon seeing he had visited, we would run to our parents bedroom to awaken telling them Santa had been here. Little did we know, that usually our parents only got a couple of hours of sleep on Christmas Eve...

We would open our stockings while waiting for Mom & Dad to get up. Santa always seemed to know the things we liked and used. There was books, soaps, cologne, lip balm, stationary items, gum, candy, toys as well as other things, but you knew you would always find a huge peppermint stick.

When Mom & Dad were up, the passing out of presents would begin. My parents would pass them out with help from usually the oldest sibling. The pile of torn wrapping paper would continue to grow as we were opening presents and exclaiming over what we found inside the packages. We would be amazed that Santa seemed to always remember what we wanted and always seemed to know the things we would like that we didn't ask for but needed.

As we grew up we discovered that Santa was only alive in our hearts and that my Mother with my Dad's Sears charge card was the true Santa who made all of our Christmas dreams come true. With four children in the house and six children from a previous marriage, I am sure it must have taken them from one Christmas to the next to pay that bill off. Looking back now, it makes me appreciate those gifts even more....


From My House To Yours,
Happy Holidays!
Kim