Christmas Memories – Sometimes The Magic Happens Years Later
Posted on Saturday, December 24th, 2011
Family Christmas – Memories of the real gifts of Christmas morning.
If you grew up in the 50s and 60s like me, you may remember scenes similar to this at Christmas time.
This is my family Christmas. Big tree. Much anticipated presents. All about the kids.
This is as it should be.
We didn’t have a big glitzy set up. What we had was a lot of wishes and hope and excitement… and parents who were willing to make Christmas a time of magic for us.
I’ll share a quick story here about one particular Christmas that stands out in my memory. I don’t even remember the presents. What I remember is how the magic of Christmas was preserved for us kids in a most unexpected way.
It was Christmas morning 1960. We all got up in the typical rush to the stockings and the tree, only to be stopped in our tracks by Dad digging around in the hallway closet. Now, Dad was a big man and this was a small closet, so the sight alone was comical. But, what was even funnier at the time was how Santa had left all the Christmas presents in the closet instead of under the tree!
There was Dad, pulling toys out of the closet, some wrapped, some not, and saying “Santa must have been in a hurry. He left all the presents in the closet. Oh, here’s one for Mary Lee, and this must be for Annabelle.” (Dad always called me Annabelle.)
What happened? And where was Mom? Well Santa brought us another present in the middle of the night. A baby brother. Yes, my brother was born on Christmas Eve. So, “Santa” was a little too busy to get the gifts under the tree.
As I got older, I laughed more and more at this memory. There was Dad, up all night, and Mom, having given birth, trying to figure out how they were going to preserve the magic of Santa and Christmas morning for us kids at home. Can you imagine Mom in the hospital that morning instructing Dad about where the gifts were hidden and who was getting what!? To have the presence of mind after giving birth to direct Christmas morning from her hospital bed!
The more I think about it the more I realize THAT is the magic of Christmas. My parents making sure that all seven of us kids at home were given a magical Christmas morning, no matter how difficult.
Wow. Today I marvel at this. I see the rush and the struggle that young families go through trying to get all the gifts, decorations, baking, and cooking done just right for Christmas morning. Then I think of my Mom and Dad and how they managed to keep the magic of Christmas morning alive for us kids, even in the midst of having a baby!
And, what an irony. The fact that the birth of a baby didn’t stop the magic of Christmas morning. Now THAT is something to ponder on this Christmas Eve!
Thank you for the magic, Mom and Dad.
And Happy Birthday, baby brother.
Have a very Merry Christmas and keep the magic alive in your family and in your heart!
What a heart-warming story. I remember well the 50’s and 60’s. In the early to mid-1950s we often only got one gift as that is all my parents could afford. Sometimes that one gift was homemade.
I came downstairs more than once in the middle of the night (the one bathroom was all the way to the other side of the large farmhouse), only to find Mom at the dining room table creating something for each one of us. Bless her heart! Not sure I could ever thank her enough for the time, energy and devotion she gave to us kids.
Thank you for prompting memories of a special time in our lives.
Thank YOU Gail for sharing your memories with me! I know… when you stop and think of all the sacrifices of time and energy made for us, especially at Christmas time, how can you help but marvel at the strength and love they had.
And thank you for stopping by and especially for taking the time to comment and share your story. Please come by again. I love the company!
Your photo looked so familiar, right down to the icicles on the tree. No one uses those anymore. Thanks for sharing it.
Oh yeah, Bodacious… those icicles are actually the old lead kind. Loved those. They were so heavy and draped so nice. Poison? What poison? Thanks for stopping by and for commenting. Always love your visits and your thoughts. 🙂
I didn’t know that story!!! And I LOVE it! Thanks, Patti, for preserving your family’s history in writing … a bit at a time, and inspiring the rest of us to do the same. Love you so,
I’m so glad you liked it, OSS! I didn’t know you never knew this. Of course, this is my family’s history through my eyes, so I guess I’d have to say it’s MY history. Our family was so big that we all have our own family history. I’m just fortunate that I remember some of it well enough to relate it… at least from that moment in time for me. Thanks again, OSS, for being such a faithful reader and a wonderful part of my life! Love you so too!
Love this story…I wonder how much preplanning your parents did–it can’t have been a surprise that her due date would fall around Christmas. It’s great having your child’s version, but I’d love to know what her end of it was!
Hi Jane – Knowing my Mom, I think just getting the presents from Santa purchased and hidden was a great feat. 😀 And since there were 7 of us already at home and they only had one car (which Dad had at work all day) I have to just shake my head. I suspect many gifts came via Sears Roebuck or Montgomery Ward catalogs. I do remember that some were wrapped and some were not. My Mom was not what you’d call super-organized, especially by the 8th child. She hit the ground running and did a lot of things in the 11th hour. I suspect she thought she would be able to wrap gifts and play Santa on Christmas Eve. Sadly, I can’t ask her about this anymore. But the times we did talk about it, she just laughed. I wish she would have shared more about how the conversation went from her hospital bed with Dad. That had to be funny. There was just no way he was going to get those gifts under the tree before we got up. Well, he sold us on the idea that Santa left the gifts in the closet. That’s an incredible gift for a kid, but even more of a gift as I get older. Thanks again Mom and Dad! And, thanks Jane for stopping by and for commenting!
What a great story. I’ve shared it with many people who also enjoyed it. Hopefully, some will subscribe to your blog.
Thank you, Jim! It is so sweet of you to take time out of your busy day to visit me here in the blogosphere. And to comment, too! I am tickled pink. I’m also very happy you shared my post. That was very kind of you. I hope I can be inspired enough to keep some sort of writing going that is worth reading. Thank you, again. And, Happy New Year to you and yours!