For some odd reason, I don’t remember a lot about our Christmases growing up. Oh, there are a few things I can recall like the little Life Savers ‘books’ Santa would bring us, the Christmas coloring books and brand spankin’ new crayons, the candy canes, and the gift my sisters and I got to open on Christmas Eve. It was always new pajamas, or a new outfit to wear on Christmas Day. I don’t think we appreciated it then as much as we do now. I don’t remember too much about any gifts I (we) got, or if we were disappointed because we didn’t get what we wanted. Those things just aren’t important enough to remember.

The fondest Christmas memory I have is the time we couldn’t afford a tree or maybe we just waited too long to get one. I really don’t remember that part. My mom, being the creative and crafty person she was, noticed the GIANT pine tree on the side of our neighbor’s yard which had a broken branch. It was HUGE! I don’t know if Mom asked the neighbor or not but she went outside and snatched up that humongous branch and brought it in the house! She trimmed the branch so it would fit in the corner of the living room. She propped it up, and if I recall correctly, she had to secure it to the wall to keep it from falling! We decorated it with our usual holiday ornaments, tinsel and star on top and that’s the ONLY Christmas tree I remember as a kid! It was an awesome Christmas tree! It’s great how Mom made sure we had a tree that year. I’ll never forget it.