Share A Christmas memory. . . .

I have so many fond memories of Christmas from my childhood. I will try to pick just a few of my favorites to share with you. If you want please leave a memory here as a comment or as a post on your own blog for others to see!

One tradition my 2 older brothers and my younger sister always had was every Christmas eve we would all sleep in the same room together. When we lived in the Castle house in Shelley, ID. we all slept downstairs in the family room and when we moved to Blackfoot we all slept together in Nikkii and I's room cuz it was the largest. (I am trying to leave out the fighting and bickering and gleeking and teasing that always occurred when we were all put together for long periods of time) . . . .I remember one year we were all abruptly awoken to the sound of running and shouting in our back yard. . . . you see, my father was a COP and we lived across the street from the county jail/courthouse. Apparently the Police were chasing a man (perhaps an excaped man), through our neighborhood. At first we thought "Santa is Here!" but it was quite apparent when a large not so jolly fat man dressed in black wearing a badge and a gun yelled "Cut him off at maple street!!!" I don't think Santa was ever known for those words. We were a bit terrified, but happy because we were allowed to stay up and open Christmas early. I think they may have found him hiding in our neighbors yard. It was unforgettable!

Another memory is One year I had asked Santa for a Scoot Skate. It was a skateboard with a handle on it, so it was easier to ride. Kind of the first version of the Razor scooters now. I woke up and ran to see what Santa had left me, and realized I had not gotten it. I tried to hide my disappointment. I was happy with all the great gifts that I had including the homemade robe, or dress, or pj's my mother always gave us every year, I usually could hear her sewing the finishing touches on Christmas Eve. As things were winding down. . . My dad asked me if I had gotten everything I wanted. . . .he looked over where the couch end met the wall. There it was, sitting there the entire time. I had overlooked it! I am not sure what kind of sound I made but it didn't sound human, but it did sound like excitement! That was a very memorable Christmas for me.

Just one more. It was this year at Christmas I really understood how much my parents loved me and how much they sacrificed to give us kids Christmas presents we wanted. We were not rich, very borderline poor/middle class. I was turning 16 and I had been wanting my ear pierced on the top of the cartilage, also I wanted to start wearing contacts. I wanted to look grown up. My parents hesitated. Also just 2 days before Christmas I had found a pair of LUCKY BRAND jeans at an outlet store 30 miles away. They fit so good and I had never owned a Brand name jean before . I told them how much I would love to have them. All the kids were wearing that brand. They said they had already bought all my Christmas and it would be impossible to even drive to pick them up with such short notice. . . .
Christmas morning. . . .I had a card in my stocking from my parents where my father had drawn a cartoon character of me with no glasses and my ear pierced. It was a gift card for both contacts and piercing. Under my homemade clothes was a folded pair of jeans. . . I pulled them out and instantly recognized them! The Lucky's, they had sacrificed and came up with the extra money and time to go buy the exact pants I wanted. I once again made some high pitched girlie happy sound and danced around. I knew how hard it was for them to afford them. They were my favorite jeans. I wore them till they had holes in the knees then cut them off and wore them for years as shorts.

So in this time of gift giving and receiving, please keep in mind how many families, parents, siblings sacrifice to give you a gift that they hope or know you will love. It wasn't so much the gift themselves that gave me joy for years and still today, it's the knowledge of how much of a token of love they were from my parents.

Merry Christmas!

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