Reflections of Christmas Past

What are your favorite memories of Christmas? Was it a special gift that you REALLY wanted? Was it the traditions that the family did – stringing popcorn, eating at grandparents’ houses, putting the tree up, or was it the giving or getting of gifts?

I remember my great aunt telling me that when she was a child, the present they got from their grandparents was a cookie that grandma made with an iron shaped tool that was dipped in batter and deep fried. Grandma would hang them on the Christmas tree, and the children got to pick one. That was one of the only gifts they received – and she loved them.

When we were kids, we got various stocking gifts, including tangerines. I always wondered why tangerines, but one of the elders at some point told me that when they were young it was a big deal to get tropical fruit for Christmas at a time when food wasn’t hauled by trucks like it is now. Having realized the significance of them, I appreciated them a whole lot more after that.

While many of our ancestors got only a cookie and perhaps a handmade gift - and maybe a tangerine if they were lucky, by the time we were kids, we got plenty of gifts. Our mother did her best to make it special (our dad died young, so she raised us on her own). We got some best-presents-ever as well as socks & underwear. We spent hours sewing popcorn strings while watching the Christmas favorite movies like “Scrooge” and “It’s A Wonderful Life.”

Children have no idea what their parents go through to try and provide a special Christmas each year for their children until children grow up and do it themselves for their children, or for a spouse, or good friends. It is not about the gifts. It is about the love. The spending of money or giving of time and talent to bring joy to another, and the traditions that remind us that joy and blessings are ours. I hope you all had a joyful, restful Christmas this year.