Years ago when I was just a lad, Christmas time was a special time of celebration. I remember my grandparents decorating their tree with a large white, fluffy cotton mat under it, adorned with little white picket fences, pine trees and cardboard houses. It created a little winter wonderland town with streets, cars and people enjoying the holiday season. The tree was a sight to behold with old fashioned bubble lights and big shiny Christmas balls of glass. There were many “special event” items displayed, all of which, my Grandmother could tell an individual story about. They were events important to and pertaining to my families experiences, which occurred throughout their lifetime together. One such item was a little wagon with a girl in it and others pulling it along the roadway, in the snow. According to my Grandmother, it represented the year when my Mother’s sister Isabelle, had broken her leg and my Mom, Aunt Nell and Uncle Son, pulled her to school every day. My Aunt Isabelle attended all twelve years of school without missing one day for sickness or truancy...winning her a certificate which my cousin (Aunt Isabelle's daughter) proudly displays in her home. That was quite an accomplishment in those days and not simply won...especially since she had to rely on brother and sisters to get her there while recovering from her broken leg. There were many such stories told by the items displayed on and under my Grandparents Christmas tree, so there was always an adventure to hear or something to learn when we gathered around the tree.
In those days, everyone had the Christmas spirit and religions that didn’t celebrate Christmas, still respected our beliefs by going along with the celebrations of the season. We in turn respected their non-Christian holidays and their religious celebrations without incident. Today, the world and its inhabitance seem to be so intolerant of other’s beliefs and will make issue with anything or anyone that does not pertain to their belief. It is a terrible thing that people cannot be tolerant of other’s beliefs and feelings, by simply joining in and going along with them, even if they don’t agree totally with their religious affiliation. After all, we all worship the same God....the ultimate creator of the universe and all in it.
Can’t we all learn to be tolerant and just get along?
In those days, I remember being off school a few days before Christmas and not returning to school until after New Years day. That span of time seemed as long as the entire summer break, usually because the days before Christmas dragged like there was a million pound weight on the hands of time....dragging and dragging until Christmas Eve finally arrived. Usually Christmas Eve found us with snow, a big moon and extremely chilly temperatures. I remember one such night when all the neighbor kids (a total of nine boys and girls) all congregated in an open back yard to ride our sleds under the extreme moonlight sky. It is one of my fondest memories of childhood! I remember all us kids laughing and yelling, as we rode down the hill repeatedly...in the blue hue of the moonlight on the white snow. What fun we had within the moonlight and colored lights glowing on the porches of all the surrounding houses. You could always hear the faint rhythm of Christmas carols being played within the nearest house... It was simply a time to embrace and always remember throughout our lives.
Now one only experiences those feelings while watching “A Christmas Carol” or one of the other classics of the season, where you can transport yourself away from reality and back through your memory to those years when Christmas meant something special. Thank God for memories... and I’m so sorry for today’s youth, for many of them will never experience that which I speak of!
Vick’s cousin Junie from Las Vegas came over Thanksgiving to visit with family and stayed with us for two days. She is very family oriented and loves Christmas the same as Vick and I, so we did our decorating and she helped...causing it to be a special time. This holiday season started with a happy time of decorating and spending time with cousin Junie. Too bad she could not be here for Christmas, but she has her sister and brother to spend the holidays with out there in Vegas.
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