A Christmas To Remember

As I think back on my Christmases past, a few come to mind. My very first Christmas was in 1958 at Edwards Air Force Base, but I don’t remember it since I was an infant. The first one I recall is Christmas 1963. We were living in Pasadena, TX. My Dad had recently been transferred to a new facility, called NASA, that was in the process of being built. My brothers and I could not wait for Christmas morning to wake up to our dreams come true. We had gone through the Sears Catalog, which, to me, was so magical for picking out what we wanted most. Honestly, I do not recall what we got, but I do remember the blinding lights of the movie camera. I could not wait for that thing to go away.

Fast forward a few years to 1968, when I was ten years old. My family owned a cabin on a lake in East Texas. This cabin was made from cedar and had a beautiful smell when you walked through the front door. There was a Franklin Stove in the main room, used to heat the non-insulated structure. There were two bedrooms off the great room, one on each side of the cabin. My brothers and I slept in one, Mom and Dad slept in the one on the other side. There was one bathroom next to the kitchen. When it was cold outside, it was cold inside, except for right in front of the Franklin Stove. I remember waking up Christmas morning to a paralyzing cold and trying to get that stove lit as quickly as I could. I don’t recall what we received as gifts, only the time with my brothers and parents. That is the best of memories.

Fast forward again to the mid 1990’s. Watching Will and Allison see, for the first time, what Santa left them was exciting. Seeing their excitement warmed my heart. All the Christmases with Jennifer, Will, and Allison were special, but they seem to blend into one. That is, until last year. We had lost most of everything to Hurricane Harvey's Flood a few months earlier. Will was home for Christmas break from college, so we were all together in our house. The floors were bare concrete, and all we had for furniture were lawn chairs. We did have real beds, however, and that was such a blessing. The only dishes we had were those given to us by a local church; we had only four of each, which was plenty. On Christmas morning, we were in our living room, with plastic draped over our fireplace and construction tools nearby. We had a folding table that served as our kitchen, with our coffee maker on it, along with other kitchen items. There was a dorm-sized refrigerator under the table. We had everything we needed. We exchanged gifts and enjoyed being together. Allison dropped her empty coffee cup, which shattered on the concrete floor. There was a short moment of silence, then we laughed. What else could we do?

Thinking back over the years to the many Christmases, I recall the times when we did not have much, and things were uncomfortable, as the fondest memories. It is because we were all together.