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11:53:00 AM EST
Christmas Memories & Traditions
So it's my turn now...
I have so very many Christmas memories that I could overwhelm you and eventually sing you to sleep ;-) so I will try to keep it to special favorites. The best ones are from my growing up years and later visits to Connecticut. My Dad was a very jolly big kid every year; he was so excited about Christmas that it was impossible not to "catch" it. Every year he'd stand back and admire the tree he and my brothers had cut down in our woods exclaiming, "This is the best tree ever!" He had a very definite plan for how to put up the lights and also the tinsel, but the ornament placing was up to all of us. He got Swiss Colony gifts from salesmen at his work, but would wait to open even them until Christmas morning. Waiting until Christmas morning was a big rule in our house. We had a tradition of visiting both sides of the family on Christmas eve for partying and gifts; then we'dall go stuffed and happily (some more than others if they "had a few") to Midnight Mass at our Catholic church. The music was beautiful (Dad's voice boomed in the choir); I could actually feel the angels there. The procession when the baby Jesus was placed in the cradle in the manger at the altar just gave me goose bumps. Bright red Pointsettias (sp?)were everywhere!
If it was snowing Dad was just ecstatic! The last Christmas I spent with my Dad was when my son (then age 14 now 30!) and I flew out from California. The most precious memory from that visit is when we were driving to a restaurant and Dad said, "Look Deb--you can see snow in the headlights!" I really think he prayed that when we came home especially that it would be a white Christmas; he was one who found bad road conditions to be an adventure as my Mom begged him to slow down! We all especially think of Dad ( he passed away in '95) at Christmas time and feel him still there with us, but somehow it's just not the same...
Mom always made tons of cookies; she was busy for weeks baking, putting them in tins and then hiding them from my brother. One year my son got her a simple corsage that she seemed to love more than the rest of her gifts. My son only visited them 4 or 5 times ever because we lived in CA and couldn't afford to get back more than that--so every memory of him and my parents is precious to me. Back to when I was growing up--Mom insisted that we save our allowance and then Dad would take us to the "5 & 10" (am I old?) to buy small gifts for each other. I always got my Mom a little basket of marzipan fruit candy. One year my brother ( then about 3) got her a diary that he kept calling it a"diareeha"--we were rolling with that one. LOL.
OK the last thing ( promise) was about the Christmas cards. Isn't it unbelievablehow many cards got sent out and received back when? Did you have cards strung up all over the house like we did? We enjoyed going over to my grandmother's house and getting out the big basket of cards and looking at each one.
Well I haven't talked about my own traditions. One was spending more than I even had and being broke until March ;-( Thank God I outgrew that one! Several times I have gotten the ingredients for cookies and never got around to making them. Every year I worked at a different department store just for Christmas (believe it or not it helped to get my spirit started) I still like to go to church but not always at midnight. I have this thing about wrapping gifts; I love it and enjoy the prettiest foil paper, ribbon and doo-dads. I did my best to make each Christmas special for my son. Who doesn't love presents, but for me Jesus is center stage rather than Santa and the love put into a gift is more important than money. I'll be spending Christmas in CT--people know how to do it up there--I'm just sorry my son and his wife can't make it. Maybe next year...
Are you still with me? Guess I blew it at being brief! I'm really interested in hearing about how Christmas is/was for you!
It's a bit early, but in case I don't get around to another entry:
Have a fabulous Christmas
full of love!
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~ i met Shel in 2000.
that previous december i had just recently been told that rick was still married ~ i was
finishing up the last semester of the tech program ~ and had just started the externship ~ so i partied^ like it was ~)*(~
nineteen ~ ninty ~ nine ~)*(~
by the end of january - rick was deep in the grips of the cancer syndrome ~ and by Valentine's day ~ they had removed the massive brain tumor ~ or what they could reach of it... by the end of feb ~ i had gone to work for argue^ably~ the meanest woman in allllll of san bndo county^ mrs. "sunny" lee ~ n' hill top liquor...*it was very very close to home ~
~ i postponed the externship as part-time turned to full time and i began to notice the mysterious woman*shelby would like that^[s/smile]
~ ((the mysterious woman )) who frequented the little store almost every day ~[smiling from that memory :) ]
~ so one day ~ i decided to break the ice n' say something "witty", and just ended up p*ssing her off - [chuckle]
~ [point^] ~
~ as she chided me - i did manage to ask her name ~ n' she replied "shelby"
which^^ i immediately liked^^^^ ~ in that "steel magnolia" kinda way [s/shimmy] -
[steppingbackin]
wow! interesting day in New Hampshire ~ things are certainly warming up back east^ ~ and here we are ~ already a week into the new year ~ )*( ~ tempus fugid ~ when you're having fun ~ so let's have some fun ~ [smile'removing a layer]
-
[quickly rubbing my hands ~ stepping back]
it was Christmas 2003 ~ Rick= feb. 1956- jan. 2002 ~ had been gone for almost 2 years ~ and i had become the official care provider ~ since nov. 2001 ~ to my friend shelby = may 1944 - may 2004.
~ like i said ~ [s/smile~chuckle]
~ a provoking topic:
[a whimsical = and i am hardly ever^whimiscal= kinda wave]
~ i was going through - preparing to go through - my own big changes - [grin] in a kinda pre- menstrual vs. menstrual way = meaning who can tell.....[lol]
i was going through my own adjustments to life's twists and turns...[smile] one of these was the change that was going on with shelby...her physical conditions began to worsen...a good deal of it brought about by her mental and emotional condition - all of this meant that she and i started spending a lot more time together...[eyesloweredfondly] ~ so i got to know ~ pretty much the in's and out's of *no pun intended ~ of Shelby "my darling..." a favorite term of hers'
[awarmsmile/a long pause...]
~ [a pirate's glint ]
[stopping to ponder...]
~ does one rush ? a provoking thought.....
[deep breath...]
~ you know...it's still *within...* that {{{ Christmas Season }}}} and i [hdback] had even harder deadlines to meet ~ the shipping issue and i love to prolong..procrastanate?(spellcheck^) ~ to that last minute drill like mode for Christmas morning...traditionally....st ill all n' all ~ being rushed'...and traditionally ~ i dislike being rushed for Christmas.....[lol...]
and it's late...
or early...
in that glass half empty, half full...bouncing back n' forth, who can tell...kinda way....[s/lol]
still funny though....[kneeslap...]
*serious...though...
when it comes to provoking thought????
i dunno...rushing?...
no....consider this a work in progress....
or better still....an unwrapping...
later ~ [lol...]
n' happpppppy newwwwwwwwwwww year ~ from deeeeeeeep DEEEEp in the heart of Texas. -
[hands*fire~ remembering the remembering ~ of a memory, opps, a Christmas memory]
so that morning, after the phone call, the coffee was poured, as the presents were prepared for shipping ~ as that movie played on ~ a memory played out ~ ((( s h e l b y ))) ~ a light^ came on ~ n' ~^^^ onOOOOOOuh oouuuuuu ~ sister^ you've been on my mind...~ oh sister......" sooooo sister...we sure ain't got a whole lot of timeeeeeeeeee....." [shimmmykindasmile~eyes lowered ~]
i i should tell you ~ [referrencing up^^^] you and your readers ~ (((( your responders - like me))).....this could take up some space...*but then maybe not so much....[shrug]
1/9/08 1:37 AM
~ actually,
shelby - had alot of names ~ and one of them- was cobra...
- cobra! ~ lllllllllllllloved - the goddess
n' hhhhhhhhhhhhated shelby....
it seems - that someone - had convinced cobra - that shelby- was the cause of alllllllllllllllllll her=cobra's - misery.......
- which^- to me - shows you - just how chicken shit - satan can be....
~ [reflecting again....]
you know....shelby knew^ that someone was after her - turns out -
she=shelby - couldn't have beeeeen more correct.... ironic- isn't it ?????
~ it's like
RAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[reeeeeeling^^]
....on your wedding day!!!!....
[a~relatin' kinda smile]