Ah the “good old days”. Christmas and the holiday season certainly brings me many thoughts of nostalgia. I don’t recall many of the presents that I received as a child but remember vividly sitting in the backseat of my Dad’s station wagon while he walked inside the bank on the downtown square. The snow was falling and he was trying to get errands completed before the roads got to bad. The entire square was decorated with twinkling lights and wreaths with bright red ribbons. Most of the little shops had lighted window displays with decorations like a small Christmas trees and toys. I remember Christmas music playing on the loudspeaker on the square and how happy I was when they played Rudolph the red nose reindeer because that was my favorite Christmas song.
I remember when I was about three years old “Santa” himself came to my house to see me. His eyes were brown just like my Dad’s. I can remember laying underneath the branches of our Christmas tree and watching all the lights changing colors.
I remember one year we got stuck in a blizzard trying to travel from Missouri to my grandparents home in Arkansas. My Grandpa came to help pull us and lead us to his house. My grandparents had a tinsel tree with colored lights that turned. My other Grandpa made peanut butter fudge every Christmas while he wasn’t known as the best of cooks his fudge was always wonderful.
My Uncle and Aunt’s home was always special during the holiday season. Their two story rock house was decorated with those big old fashioned Christmas lights, they had a real fireplace, and my uncle had a basket filled with pecans and walnuts he would crack with the nutcracker sitting beside him. He would play home movies on their projector and my Aunt would make popcorn on the stove. My uncle would buy old clocks in yard sales that chimed, cuckoo’d, and bonged. He must’ve had a dozen of those clocks, they would all go off at once every hour. Once everyone was snuggled into their beds at night he would yell out “Good-night John Boy!” until we all answered him back just like they did on the Waltons TV show.
I remember in elementary school all the crafts we made for the holidays, the real tree in our room that we decorated with red and green paper chains, popcorn we strung, and other homemade ornaments. Those were the days that we bowed our heads and said a prayer before lunch too. I remember getting those little Gideon bibles at school and how much I loved them. I got to play Mary in the Christmas pageant one year at school. We always learned Christmas carols at school and church to sing for the pageants as well. How each child got an orange, an apple, some nuts, a candy cane, and a full sized candy bar in a brown paper sack each Christmas at school and church. I remember our pastor telling the Christmas story each year and how I would search the sky for the brightest star on Jesus’ Birthday.
I loved the snow and still do. I would bundle up to go outside build snowmen, make snow angels, and have snowball fights. We would sled and break icicles off the house. I also cut out paper snowflakes to put in the windows. Our town always had a Christmas Parade. When I was in kindergarten I was little Miss Merry Christmas that year and got to ride in the back of a convertible in the parade all wrapped up in my little fur trimmed coat. I remember hot cocoa at the football games that would burn the roof of your mouth it was so hot but you drank it anyway because it was good.
I remember time spent with loved ones who are now gone and those memories being so special to me. Looking back everyone seemed nicer, food tasted better, the world a better place, and it does make me long for those days once again.
Now when I remember those days I wonder if children today still feel that holiday magic that I was experiencing as a child on Christmas . The world has certainly changed since the 70’s. I can’t imagine how older folks must feel but I think most of us past a certain age reminisce fondly over what we consider simpler times. A time without being constantly connected through social media, phones, and email. Families have changed as well. It takes both parents working and there are more single parent homes. It sometimes seems Christmas is more about the “stuff” and less about the time spent. I do think that no matter what time period we were raised in that we probably think our “good old days” were the best and our children and grandchildren will probably think their “good old days” are just as great.