Even in these fra-gee-lay times, a leg lamp unites us

I knew when I wrote last week about my love of “A Christmas Story” that it was a beloved holiday movie. It’s why every year TBS runs it for 24 hours straight starting on Christmas Eve.

(I own the movie on DVD, but I like the TV marathon. It keeps me in a festive mood.)

Readers wrote to tell me how special it is to them, too.

Leslie Levy reminded me that Peter Billingsley, who plays the adorable yet sometimes foul-mouthed “Ralphie,” attended Phoenix Country Day School, Arcadia High and Phoenix College.

John Yale sent me a picture of his tribute to the movie that he puts up every year in the window of his home office.

For Grant Stephens, the best parts for him as a father and homeowner are the scenes with Ralphie’s father, played by actor Darren McGavin. He can relate.

“To this day, my ‘bride’ of 50 years still gets a kick watching me laugh at his antics year after year,” Grant wrote in an email.

I used to watch the movie with my dad, and later with my son. For many readers, watching it is a family tradition, too.

Mike Manion watches “A Christmas Story” with his daughter, now grown and coming home from the Bay Area for the holiday.

“I’m not a movie critic,” Mike wrote in an email, “but there is something about the film that invites the viewer to share a little all-American good cheer and holiday nostalgia.”

I know from the emails I receive that readers come from varied backgrounds and have vastly different opinions. We agree on “A Christmas Story.”

I’ve always said if you talk to someone long enough, no matter how different they are from you, you can find something in common. Maybe it’s meatloaf, or kid brothers, or bad gifts from distant relatives.

Or maybe it’s a family in a Chinese restaurant on Christmas Day.