Christmas... "Its the most wonderful time of the year." Unless, of course, you get all "wrapped up" in all that is so wrong about the modern celebration of the Christmas season. As a child, I relished the smells and all the preparations for Christmas eve and Christmas day. Time spent making cookies and singing carols with my mother, yelling at my little brother, Milan, for eating the cookies by the fistfuls, putting out the Christmas decorations with my Dad who made the most amazing display of Santa and his sleigh out of a decal he ordered from Popular Mechanics and plywood. I was always so proud of how our house looked at Christmas and my dad, a United Airlines mechanic, who always made sure all the lights were in working order and safe for his family. My brother Chuck and I would be out shoveling all the driveways we could in order to make a few bucks so we could buy our parents something from Montgomery Ward or JCPenny. Mom loved everything we got for her even though she never wore the items or used all the kitchen gadgets we purchased. Dad loved the numerous shirts we would buy for him as long as it had "the union label" sewed on. Chuck and I were so proud of ourselves that we produced gifts for the family and every year we tried to out do ourselves from the previous.
Then there were the dinners....going to my Baba's house where it smelled of garlic and homemade wine. I hated that smell, then, but loved the routine. I loved her Chicago bungalow, the cramped kitchen and my mother, aunt and grandmother wearing their starched, ironed "fancy" aprons talking and cooking.
My mother, brother Chuck and Baba have all passed away and my Dad suffers from Alzheimer's and lives in the Veteran's home and most times he doesn't speak. So I could focus on what and who I don't have this year for Christmas. I honestly can't remember all the toys or games or clothes I received..(with the exception of the fur muff and hat with the little balls on the ends that my Aunt Catherine got me from Gassman's..I hated it)..but I remember the joy and excitement of the people that made the season magical. The smells, the snow coming down on Chuck and I as we shoveled, the aluminum tree and the plywood Santa with the rotating color floodlight, the singing and my garlic-infused Baba. I loved Christmas as a child and even now with all the have nots I have endured..I still love Christmas. I have my eternal memories and with the upcoming celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, a renewed spirit and hope for a better life and world.
Merry Christmas friends and may the blessings of the season give you peace and special memories to sustain you forever.
"Its the most happiest time of the year"---
Cathy
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