Of family and friends
Ah, so many Christmas memories from my childhood in the ’60s and formative ’70s years. Looking at the clock on the stove at 3:30 a.m. as my three siblings and I crept through the kitchen of our 12 x 60 trailer to the living room with the big window on the end, where the tree was waiting with its small bounty of presents left by Santa; we had no chimney but knew Santa could work his magic anyway. Except for some new jeans and shoes when school started, Christmas was the only time us kids received any gifts of any kind, so it was always a really big deal! No presents on our birthdays, but Mom would make the birthday boy or girl their favorite cake, which was a pretty big deal too.
I remember getting the magnetic vibrating football game when I was 5-6, putting it in a brown grocery sack and walking down the highway on a cold, snowy Christmas morning to my best friend Junior’s house to show him, see what he got, and spend a glorious day playing inside and out, no worries in the world! In those days there was an invisible barrier between kid world and adult world, and never the twain would meet.
I remember listening to “Little Toy Trains” by Glen Campbell every Christmas, and it’s still my favorite Christmas song, one my grown kids also love. We watched Charlie Brown every Christmas, and still do. I remember, after I had left home at 17 to venture out and make my own way in the world, getting the week off for Christmas the next few years and looking forward to driving for hours to get back home to family, to Mom’s cooking and eggnog laced with Jim Beam, going around the neighborhood with my older brother, visiting childhood buddies and their families, catching up with what was going on in their lives. There were times it took hours longer than normal because of snow and ice, but there was no way I was not going, and I always made it.
Jesus’ birth will always be the most important facet of the Christmas season, but love of family and friends will always be a close second for me.
GREGORY STANFORD White Hall