The end of the year is for me a time of reflection. Lately I've been reminiscing about the holiday time when I was a kid in the 1950's. A lot has changed yet much remains the same. Lots of material for a short holiday story. When did we get a christmas tree? I remember Dad brought a tree home the weekend following Thanksgiving. He'd trim branches then cut several inches from the trunk and put it in a bucket of water out on the porch. He said the tree needed at least a week to soak up the water and replenish itself after its long journey from the forest to our house before we decorated it. Do folks still immerse their trees in water today? We kids spent a lot of time hunting for signs of christmas packages. Mom hid them in a closet, high up on a shelf in her sewing room. Today I see parents shopping for gifts, with their children in tow. Some kids even tell their parents what to buy as they shop! Mom put electric candles, with blue bulbs, in our windows. (Where the bulbs blue or am I misremembering?) Last year when I visited my Mom before the holidays we looked through the various decorations she still kept; the small items she would display around the holiday. My most vivid memory is standing in the darkened living room, looking at the christmas tree all decorated and lit with multi-colored lights and hearing a voice tell me, "you have alway been and will alway be." I was five at the time. These collective memories could make a fine story.
See new post on Dubious Grief page.
