Christmas Time Again
Well, it's Christmas season again. Christmas has always been a magical time for me. It was Jesus' birthday, and we always decorated the day after Thanksgiving. Mom loves Christmas lights...so every year we went all out. I would get up in the middle of the night, turn on the lights, and sing Christmas Carols. That was pure magic to me. Then there was our family gatherings. I have so many good memories from our family parties.
For awhile, it was at my Aunt Margaret and Uncle Bill's house. When they moved, my Mom took it over. I remember the year that I got The Chipmunks Christmas album and played it one year. It took a couple hours, but my Grandpa finally noticed it. Needless to say, I had to turn it off. My Grandpa was a character. He gave me cash one year, and Duran Duran was my favorite band and he wrote on the envelope "If you buy Durant Durant, you'll be whacked, whacked." That was my Grandpa in a nutshell. My Uncle always got us the cool presents...the ones that our parents didn't want us to have because, really, who needs a baby doll that needs to be fed and diapered? And then there was the PUNCH!! Southern Comfort punch to be exact. There would be the "kiddie" punch, and the adult punch. It didn't take long for the adults to take part in that southern comfort and we'd be able to taste some. Later on, Mom let me have one or two glasses of it, since I wasn't going anywhere. Guess that was easier than having to keep an eye on me the whole night. And I remember making Christmas cookies from scratch. It would take forever, but I loved the decorating. Towards the end of our family gatherings, we had to be extra careful with making sure they were put away because our cat PJ would steal cookies and hoard them in Mom's room. We discovered he did that in March when he brought one out.
Christmas mornings were magical too. My sister found out early that was no Santa Claus, but she was a good sport and let me keep on believing. Even one time, Santa left a package in the driveway for me! Later on, it was explained to me that Mom and her friend Barb had kept the presents at her apartment, and Mom had dropped one in her inebriated Southern Comfort state. Mom latch-hooked us HUGE stockings, and she would fill it with nuts, candy, and small presents. Heck, they could probably hold a piano. One year Mom forgot to fill them, and we had to go into our room until she could call one of Santa's elves to take care of it (yes, I fell for it). And we always had plenty of stuff and cool presents. Looking back on that now, I know what a sacrifice my Mom made to make sure we got all that we did, and I will always be thankful to God that I got her as a Mom. Grandpa wouldn't even give her her Christmas cash until after Christmas morning because he knew that she would take it and spend it on us.
And of course, being outside Chicago, there were plenty of wintry weather. One year, it was 27 below zero and the pipes in the kitchen had frozen. All dishes had to be washed in the bathtub. I loved making snow angels and snowmen. I would stay out all day in the snow, and remember my Mom putting our mittens, hats, and scarfs over the heat vents. Great memories.
We stopped decorating a couple of years ago, mainly because we have so much stuff to put up, that it would be time to take it down when we got done. I still love going out and looking at parks that decorate up the wazoo. Places like Silver Springs. At home, it was always Cosley Zoo. It's like walking in a magical world. The magic of Christmas still remains inside of me, and it always will.
So what's my problem with it? The commercial part of Christmas. Have we, as a society, lost the real reason for Christmas (and I'm not just talking about the religious part of it) that we really are this way. Nothing drives me up the wall more than Christmas commercials. There's one out now with "The Twelve Days of Christmas" where a teenage girl carries on a verse about how horrible her presents were last year and that they should just stick with her list! Have our children become so bratty? I hate how it has come to represent. Stores opening at midnight on Thanksgiving and ruining the holiday for their employees? And the dealbusters. What has society come to when a woman uses pepper spray at a Wal-Mart so she can get what she wanted? And that wasn't the only Wal-Mart that had violence reported. It makes me sick. How about going to a store and picking up a present to donate to Toys For Tots for a child that isn't going to have any presents because their families don't have money to celebrate. Volunteering at a soup kitchen, or helping a food pantry?
Society needs to teach our children that it is better to give than to receive! Christmas is supposed to be about generosity, giving, loving, helping people. Instead we have greed, violence, and hatred.
We don't have much money, but this year we're going to buy something for a pre-teen child and donate it to Toys For Tots. Last year I donated a bunch of blankets I crocheted to a nursing home that had a lot of elderly patients with no family. We can't do much, but we try to do something.
For me, that is what Christmas is - and what it will always be. I just hope that there is enough people who think like me around to make sure there will always be people who believe in the true spirit of Christmas. After all, it IS Jesus' birthday, and what better way could we honor Him than by giving in the true spirit?
For awhile, it was at my Aunt Margaret and Uncle Bill's house. When they moved, my Mom took it over. I remember the year that I got The Chipmunks Christmas album and played it one year. It took a couple hours, but my Grandpa finally noticed it. Needless to say, I had to turn it off. My Grandpa was a character. He gave me cash one year, and Duran Duran was my favorite band and he wrote on the envelope "If you buy Durant Durant, you'll be whacked, whacked." That was my Grandpa in a nutshell. My Uncle always got us the cool presents...the ones that our parents didn't want us to have because, really, who needs a baby doll that needs to be fed and diapered? And then there was the PUNCH!! Southern Comfort punch to be exact. There would be the "kiddie" punch, and the adult punch. It didn't take long for the adults to take part in that southern comfort and we'd be able to taste some. Later on, Mom let me have one or two glasses of it, since I wasn't going anywhere. Guess that was easier than having to keep an eye on me the whole night. And I remember making Christmas cookies from scratch. It would take forever, but I loved the decorating. Towards the end of our family gatherings, we had to be extra careful with making sure they were put away because our cat PJ would steal cookies and hoard them in Mom's room. We discovered he did that in March when he brought one out.
Christmas mornings were magical too. My sister found out early that was no Santa Claus, but she was a good sport and let me keep on believing. Even one time, Santa left a package in the driveway for me! Later on, it was explained to me that Mom and her friend Barb had kept the presents at her apartment, and Mom had dropped one in her inebriated Southern Comfort state. Mom latch-hooked us HUGE stockings, and she would fill it with nuts, candy, and small presents. Heck, they could probably hold a piano. One year Mom forgot to fill them, and we had to go into our room until she could call one of Santa's elves to take care of it (yes, I fell for it). And we always had plenty of stuff and cool presents. Looking back on that now, I know what a sacrifice my Mom made to make sure we got all that we did, and I will always be thankful to God that I got her as a Mom. Grandpa wouldn't even give her her Christmas cash until after Christmas morning because he knew that she would take it and spend it on us.
And of course, being outside Chicago, there were plenty of wintry weather. One year, it was 27 below zero and the pipes in the kitchen had frozen. All dishes had to be washed in the bathtub. I loved making snow angels and snowmen. I would stay out all day in the snow, and remember my Mom putting our mittens, hats, and scarfs over the heat vents. Great memories.
We stopped decorating a couple of years ago, mainly because we have so much stuff to put up, that it would be time to take it down when we got done. I still love going out and looking at parks that decorate up the wazoo. Places like Silver Springs. At home, it was always Cosley Zoo. It's like walking in a magical world. The magic of Christmas still remains inside of me, and it always will.
So what's my problem with it? The commercial part of Christmas. Have we, as a society, lost the real reason for Christmas (and I'm not just talking about the religious part of it) that we really are this way. Nothing drives me up the wall more than Christmas commercials. There's one out now with "The Twelve Days of Christmas" where a teenage girl carries on a verse about how horrible her presents were last year and that they should just stick with her list! Have our children become so bratty? I hate how it has come to represent. Stores opening at midnight on Thanksgiving and ruining the holiday for their employees? And the dealbusters. What has society come to when a woman uses pepper spray at a Wal-Mart so she can get what she wanted? And that wasn't the only Wal-Mart that had violence reported. It makes me sick. How about going to a store and picking up a present to donate to Toys For Tots for a child that isn't going to have any presents because their families don't have money to celebrate. Volunteering at a soup kitchen, or helping a food pantry?
Society needs to teach our children that it is better to give than to receive! Christmas is supposed to be about generosity, giving, loving, helping people. Instead we have greed, violence, and hatred.
We don't have much money, but this year we're going to buy something for a pre-teen child and donate it to Toys For Tots. Last year I donated a bunch of blankets I crocheted to a nursing home that had a lot of elderly patients with no family. We can't do much, but we try to do something.
For me, that is what Christmas is - and what it will always be. I just hope that there is enough people who think like me around to make sure there will always be people who believe in the true spirit of Christmas. After all, it IS Jesus' birthday, and what better way could we honor Him than by giving in the true spirit?
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