Friday Five: Christmases Past

Memories of Christmases past include:

1. The Christmas candles pictured above. I remember collecting more each year while I was in elementary school. I would arrange them under the tree with little houses my mother had to make a village scene on sparkly tissue paper. Since I was an only child and there was no extended family living nearby as we lived on military bases, we did not have many packages under the tree.

2.The stocking I always hung up was made of red net like the one below.In contrast to this, my mother made handmade (needlepoint) stockings for my children, which we still get out every Christmas.

3. I excitedly anticipated Christmas when I was 9 years old, but it seemed ruined for me because I began to vomit before we opened gifts. I still remember feeling so ill that I did not care about Christmas at all, not even about presents.

4. I would write a letter to Santa Claus each year to tell him what I wanted and leave the letter on a windowsill outside, because the north wind would take it up to him. When I looked later, it was always gone!


5. When I was in second grade I learned about the reality of Santa Claus. I searched my parents' closet and found the high-heeled bride doll I'd asked Santa for. She was beautiful! I did not let on that I didn't believe in Santa Claus for awhile--at least, not until the new year.

(This is what she looked like in my memory!)

Growing up, Christmas for me was mainly a secular holiday with emphasis on Santa Claus, gifts, and family. My parents did not go to church and did not discuss faith at all.