Memembrin'Follow

Don't especially have one. Every Christmas has been nice, spending time with immediate and sometimes extended family. No "WOW!" moments as a kid either, although coming down the stairs to see presents under the tree always was exciting.

When I was younger, we'd always have to spend Christmas afternoon at my aunt's house. Those weren't too amazing.

But a few Christmases ago, it was awesome. We had originally intended to go to my Aunt's (and no one really wanted to). Well, my mom wasn't feeling too great, so she called and canceled. So we stayed in and had Chinese food instead. It was awesome. :P

And I can't remember this one, but I imagine I REALLY enjoyed it. When I was 5 or 6, I drank a mimosa off the table thinking it was regular OJ. It was Christmas Eve and I apparently ran through the house screaming that Santa was coming and then passed out on my bed. XD

gbaji drinks mimosas?

gay.

It's important to write this stuff down somewhere so you have it when the old age kicks in.

Best Christmas was the one were I could actually afford to get everyone a gift, too bad that only happened once.

They've all been pretty good for me. Particularily memorable were the first time I can remember seeing deer out at my Grandparents farm. There were 8 of them, just standing in the alphalpha field christmas eve. I swear one of them had a red nose.

One time during thanksgiving up in Gig harbor, WA the tall ship Lady Washington came into port while I was standing at the docks. I was literally the only perosn on the dock at the time, 10-12 years old at the time, but these reinactment sailers in traditional garb calmly tossed me one of the large mooring lines, and i got to tie her up to the pier. lucky for me I knew how to tie onto a cleat well enough that the ship didn't drift away. Then I got a tour, which was awsome.

Another memorable event was the christmas I got my first object capable of flight. A 0.40 size trainer aircraft kit. I literally wore that thing out flying it, and it spawned many more aircraft over the years.

I think my best kid memory of Christmas was when I was 11. It was 1970 and we had a Siberian Husky back then. My parents Thought it would be a good idea to get us a dog sled. All the presents were place in a large sack on the sled by the Christmas tree. Just as we finish opening our presents, I look up to notice a antique gum ball machine on the dinning table. My parents had found it at a flea market in NJ and had my uncle buy a box of gum balls from a supplier in NY.

I still treasure the doll I was given that year and have most of the cast iron stove parts, my sister and I got that year. It was the last year I was given a doll. She was from Italy and brought at Lord & Taylors. My sister made her a ton of felt dresses, just like the one she came with. As to the gum ball machine, I'm sure it's some where at my parents house, though it hasn't had a glass bubble since I was in high school and somehow the glass ended up breaking while under my bed. I have no idea why it was even in my bedroom, but then everything tended to get hidden under my bunk-bed.

Months after that Christmas we found a few presents, my parents forgot they had hidden around the house.

As a parent my favorite Christmases were the first year we moved back to Baltimore and my ex had just landed a job at Ft. Meade. We were broke and it look like Santa wouldn't have any toys for our 3 girls. A few days before Christmas a neighbor who live across the street, left the girls hats and mittens outside our apartment door. All of our winter outerwear was still in storage, from our move from California. My ex had join the Navy in Philly and they wanted over $600 to ship it to Maryland.

On Christmas Eve the school called asking me if we would accept a give basket of food. We were the last family on the local fire house list, so they left my girls a garbage bag filled with stuff toys. The box of food we got came with 2 roasting chickens, that I expected would be our dinner the next day. For a tree I got out a large paper bag and drew a tree that we taped on the wall. The sectary at work, told my ex he could get a tree from the woods by her house, so next we started to make some ornaments for it. He came home with a small tree, that was just like the tree from Charlie Brown's Christmas Special.

Then just as we got it up, we got a knock on our door. There was our first floor neighbor with a beautiful 5' Christmas tree and large turkey for us and presents for the girls.

Ten years later, I was getting an divorce living with 2 of my 3 girls. The first year I was able to land a part time job at MBNA trying to sell loans or ofter credit cards to people with poor credit. I had taken a few dollars each paycheck, to get a stocking stuffer for the girls on my way home from work. Things like sidewalk chalk and a Slinky. MBNA had everyone come in and work Christmas Eve with a party at 1pm after the shift ended. It took only an hour of getting yelled at by nearly everyone who answer the phone and complaining, to convince the manager that no one wanted us calling on the 24th of December trying to sell them a loan at 24%. One other woman was in the same boat as I with kids at home and relying on food stamps to feed them. She and I were given a $100 gift card for Calder's, so I called my parents to ask them to meet me there, since it was right next to the best liquor store were they often got wine for our Xmas dinner. A guy I met online was sweet enough to send the girls and me a new VCR and a large bottle of Drambuie, the year It wasn't to last though, as he had run up a long distance bill calling not only me, but it turn out several other women he met online.

The next year he sent me $50, which I was to buy my bottle of Drambuie and get the girls something. My daughter's therapist had a family sponsor us for Christmas and each of us got new clothes we needed as well as some pony tail holders, I needed and games for the girls. Since the fridge that my parents had given me died, Social Services gave me a new one that week. Plus my youngest got a gift certificate from Santa that went for a fairy princess house with a unicorn.



So there we were once again with gifts of food, clothes and presents for each girl, though I was broke. Those years when there was nothing to look forward to, were always my best ones.

I think this year will be added to my favorite list as Jonwin and I were face with trying to figure out how we could have time with my daughters and grand children, though none of us really had space to host family that day. We ended up taking 2 days to clean up my studio and buying a 4.7 lb tenderloin that only scraps are left in the pan. The girls did most of the cooking in my kitchen while hunting for pots and serving dishes for all the food. My art desk, a TV table and couple of cable spools were used to serve the food on and give with my dad's old drawing board, make shift table for the kids to eat at, while a few of the grown up sat in chairs, or the floor.

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We always had the girls pick out a special toy for Toys for Tots each year, since they were little and tried to give what cash we could spare whenever we saw someone ringing a bell next to the kettle outside the grocery store or mall. Now each year, my phone often rings from charities asking for a small donation. I only give a small amount of ten to twenty five dollar, to one or two a year and give to can food drives something that I buy just for them. Food I know easy to work a meal around and I know I would loved to have gotten years ago when I needed it. I think I give about as much, as I spend on my family most years. Even when I barely have enough to get by on I will give anything I can, though it's never been much.