Monday is Christmas. And today is just Thursday. I’m getting so wound up about the BIG day that I can’t stand myself. I plan to visit with friends and family and exchange gifts on and off throughout the glorious day. And eat.Christmas last year was good, but it wasn’t up to its normal par with me. I didn’t even put up a Christmas tree because I wasn’t sure when I’d be moving into my new house. However, this year is different. I have a huge tree, lights in the yard and decorations from one end of the house to the other. And I’ve purchased the traditional three-flavored popcorn tin and have proceeded to munch myself into a coma.
I was wrapping the last of my presents Sunday and was flooded with memories of Christmases past. I just had to stop and take a breath. I finally gave in and, basking in the glow of my peacock covered Douglas fir, I let the memories come.
When I was about six or seven, I woke up Christmas morning to find Santa had brought the entire Star Wars galaxy right into my living room. That was also the year I got the Barbie Dream House — the one dad cussed at for four hours while trying to put the upholstery on the little Barbie couches. Wasn’t funny then. Hysterical now. Even to him.
One Christmas, I got my first bicycle, and this was before our parents knew anything about helmets. I spent the day outside and cold learning to ride the rainbow colored steed. Mom spent the day stressed out because the only way I knew to stop it was to run it into the dogwood in the corner of the yard.
One Christmas Eve that sticks out in my mind the most was the year I received my first German shepherd dog. I was about 10 years old and I wanted a mini-bike. My brother and sister had been running around all day saying I was gonna get the bestest present ever. It was bigger than the world. I was convinced my dad had talked mom into the mini-bike. It turned out to be the other way around. Mom talked dad into a dog — one that would live in the house.
Christmas Eve came and our whole family gathered at our house in Pleasant Grove for a glorious feast and night of fellowship.
When the time came for my present, Vickie and Keith took me into the living room and low and behold — there was a big red bow on the floor. Then it grew feet and moved. Thus, my Ranger waddled into our lives.
He became my best friend in the whole world. He waddled out of our lives when I was 13, a victim of poisoning by a neighbor.
Now, being of a much older age, I look back and see that Ranger wasn’t the only special thing that day. It was one of the last times our whole family was together. After that, we began to lose relatives and loved ones to illness and time.
This year, my sister Vickie just moved into her new house. That’s right — hers. My niece, Rhea, is celebrating a new career as a Realtor and my nephew, Erik, and his wife Nicole are expecting their first child — a girl — in January. My brother Keith, who Crohn’s disease has decimated, is still with us, and so are both my parents. This year, those are the things I’m celebrating.
Giving gifts and receiving presents are all very nice and fun, but please remember the greatest gift of all — the birth of Jesus Christ. Also remember the gifts that you get every day — one more day, or even just one more hour, with those you love.
Merry Christmas St. Clair County. May the joy of Christmas surround you and yours for years to come.
