THINGS I REMEMBER ABOUT THE HOLIDAYS AS A KID
I REMEMBER.......
thinking GRANDMA HATFIELD'S christmas tree was the biggest one in the world and having to be lifted by an adult just to hang an ornament mid-tree on christmas eve.
thinking MR. BOYD was very religious in our neighborhood because he only used blue christmas lights on the outside of his corner house.
writing out my list from the SEARS WISH BOOK and making sure i included the page number so it was crystal clear to santa.
always choosing the latter when SANTA gave you the choice of singing, dancing or telling a joke in order to get your present at grandma's house. i would rehearse for a week and always got a laugh.
laughing hysterically when my SISTER PAT tried to sing 'SILENT NIGHT' for her gift and then getting a stern look from grandma, who always whispered to me, "be nice, she tries hard."
seeing my first 'flock tree' and my DAD telling me that only jewish people bought those kinds of christmas trees. i didn't get his joke. (what's a flock tree?--google it)
always hoping for a red SCHWINN bicycle.
being disappointed when we got an AMERICAN FLYER train set and not a LIONEL.
burning my hand when i decided to touch the color wheel for our aluminum tree. i blamed my sister.
wondering why AUNTIE ALMA always bought me shortie pajamas. no one else i knew had them. i hated them and never wore them. pajama shorts & a short sleeve top. really?
when the only time you heard the word 'gay' was when somebody sang a christmas carol.
EVERY STORE being closed on christmas day. EVERY STORE.
the lines at LARRY'S GAS STATION (later john's marathon) on christmas eve. if you needed gas for christmas day, you had no choice but to get it then because they closed at 3:00 and didn't re-open for two days.
running out of batteries and having to wait until the NEXT day to get more. my god, the agony.
hanging out by MRS. CERVONE'S kitchen because the stay at home mom cooked christmas treats all day long and all month long. you never said 'no' when she invited you to stay for dinner.
having to listen to RICHIE CRAWFORD telling us about how great his gifts were....the 'best' baseball glove, the 'best' toys....blah blah blah. you probably knew someone like that.
watching the LAFAYETTE TWINS, bobby & louie, walk out of their house on christmas day dressed exactly alike. they hated it but their mom loved it.
keeping an eye out for FRANK LUCENBACH because he'd steal whatever you left laying out in the yard on christmas day. my dad was indifferent to our situation.......until one day he left his new wrench & hammer outside after fixing our new bikes.......and frank lucenbach just happened to be in the immediate area when they disappeared. frank then became that 'miserable bastard' who lived down the street. TRUE STORY---to this day, frank lives in a van with his dog and drives the country doing odd jobs. wonder if he still has dad's wrench?
getting a new sled but NOT having snow on christmas.
watching bubble light ornaments with all the lights off.
rough housing with my BROTHER TERRY and breaking one of mom's GLASS ornaments. it was always his fault.
crying because we didn't get a christmas present for SPORTY, our sex crazed mongrel. my brother told me that sporty got enough presents every night when he wandered the neighborhood. i didn't get it.
crawling under the tree to water it every day after school.
cleaning up the fallen pine needles by hand because the vacuum 'would clog up.' (when mom wasn't home, we vacuumed anyhow and just unclogged the clog)
having to write 'thank you' notes to relatives who gave you clothes for a present.
finding out the mom & dad hid our presents in the 'junk' closet under the stairs and then having to work at looking 'surprised' on christmas morning.
always being happy when i got a book for a present or anything related to sports.
getting to play cards with the adults christmas night and watching UNCLE OLIVER'S nose because the more he drank, the more his nose twitched. true story.
lying in bed reading that new book until i fell asleep. who turned the light out?
thinking GRANDMA HATFIELD'S christmas tree was the biggest one in the world and having to be lifted by an adult just to hang an ornament mid-tree on christmas eve.
thinking MR. BOYD was very religious in our neighborhood because he only used blue christmas lights on the outside of his corner house.
writing out my list from the SEARS WISH BOOK and making sure i included the page number so it was crystal clear to santa.
always choosing the latter when SANTA gave you the choice of singing, dancing or telling a joke in order to get your present at grandma's house. i would rehearse for a week and always got a laugh.
laughing hysterically when my SISTER PAT tried to sing 'SILENT NIGHT' for her gift and then getting a stern look from grandma, who always whispered to me, "be nice, she tries hard."
seeing my first 'flock tree' and my DAD telling me that only jewish people bought those kinds of christmas trees. i didn't get his joke. (what's a flock tree?--google it)
always hoping for a red SCHWINN bicycle.
being disappointed when we got an AMERICAN FLYER train set and not a LIONEL.
burning my hand when i decided to touch the color wheel for our aluminum tree. i blamed my sister.
wondering why AUNTIE ALMA always bought me shortie pajamas. no one else i knew had them. i hated them and never wore them. pajama shorts & a short sleeve top. really?
when the only time you heard the word 'gay' was when somebody sang a christmas carol.
EVERY STORE being closed on christmas day. EVERY STORE.
the lines at LARRY'S GAS STATION (later john's marathon) on christmas eve. if you needed gas for christmas day, you had no choice but to get it then because they closed at 3:00 and didn't re-open for two days.
running out of batteries and having to wait until the NEXT day to get more. my god, the agony.
hanging out by MRS. CERVONE'S kitchen because the stay at home mom cooked christmas treats all day long and all month long. you never said 'no' when she invited you to stay for dinner.
having to listen to RICHIE CRAWFORD telling us about how great his gifts were....the 'best' baseball glove, the 'best' toys....blah blah blah. you probably knew someone like that.
watching the LAFAYETTE TWINS, bobby & louie, walk out of their house on christmas day dressed exactly alike. they hated it but their mom loved it.
keeping an eye out for FRANK LUCENBACH because he'd steal whatever you left laying out in the yard on christmas day. my dad was indifferent to our situation.......until one day he left his new wrench & hammer outside after fixing our new bikes.......and frank lucenbach just happened to be in the immediate area when they disappeared. frank then became that 'miserable bastard' who lived down the street. TRUE STORY---to this day, frank lives in a van with his dog and drives the country doing odd jobs. wonder if he still has dad's wrench?
getting a new sled but NOT having snow on christmas.
watching bubble light ornaments with all the lights off.
rough housing with my BROTHER TERRY and breaking one of mom's GLASS ornaments. it was always his fault.
crying because we didn't get a christmas present for SPORTY, our sex crazed mongrel. my brother told me that sporty got enough presents every night when he wandered the neighborhood. i didn't get it.
crawling under the tree to water it every day after school.
cleaning up the fallen pine needles by hand because the vacuum 'would clog up.' (when mom wasn't home, we vacuumed anyhow and just unclogged the clog)
having to write 'thank you' notes to relatives who gave you clothes for a present.
finding out the mom & dad hid our presents in the 'junk' closet under the stairs and then having to work at looking 'surprised' on christmas morning.
always being happy when i got a book for a present or anything related to sports.
getting to play cards with the adults christmas night and watching UNCLE OLIVER'S nose because the more he drank, the more his nose twitched. true story.
lying in bed reading that new book until i fell asleep. who turned the light out?
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
No comments:
Post a Comment