What is one of your most memorable holiday stories? Every single one is special to me, but one absolutely sticks out.
When I was 7, on Dec 23rd we heard of a big storm coming thru Colorado. (the blizzard of '82) By the 24th there was 3 feet of snow on the ground. My dad was asked to bring some medication to a cousin who was sick, and couldnt get out of the house. So, at 10 in the morning, on the 24th Dad took off on the snow mobile, to deliver the medicine. My cousin lived about 3 miles away, so the trip was thought to be a pretty quick one.
Mom got a call from Dad, saying he was stuck at my cousin's. The snow mobile was stuck, and there was no way to pull it out. The snow was flyin, and it was just to fluffy. Dad told mom he would do his best to be home as soon as he could, and he would do what he could to be home for Christmas day.
There was no sign of the snow stopping, and I remember Mom was always looking out the window to see if Dad was on his way. Midnight rolled around, and Mom told us to get to bed, so Santa could come. 4 in the morning rolled around, and I remember hearing the dog barking (of course on THAT night, I was thinking it was Santa.) My sister and I rushed up stairs, and there was Dad, soaked, and so tired. He walked/crawled all the way home the snow was about 5 feet deep, and drifted well over 12 feet. (we were able to step up onto the top of the house)
That was my favorite Christmas. To know that one person, to be with his family would travel 3 miles in 5 feet of snow, to be with his family on Christmas will always stay in my heart. He never even complained. The only thing he did say was he was glad of the military training, as he crawled using his arms and legs to scoot along. :o)
This message was edited Nov 30, 2003 8:56 PM
Now that Christmas is 26 days away.....
What a great story Shelly, thank goodness he did not freeze to death!
My favorite memory of Christmas was when my son was about 4 and we had a santa come one evening as a surprise. T sat on his lap and sang the entire Frosty the Snowman song with the cutest pronunciations! We had no clue he even knew it all! Every Christmas we watch the video and roar!
Frosty the Snowman, was a jolly happy soul,
With a corncob pipe and a button nose, and two eyes made of coal.
Frosty the Snowman, is a fairytale, they say.
He was made of snow, but the children know he came to life one day.
There must have been some magic in that old silk they found,
For when they placed it on his head, he began to dance around!
Oh, Frosty, the Snowman, was a live as he could be;
and the children say he could laugh and play,
just the same as you and me.
Thumpety thump, thump, thumpety thump, thump,
look at Frosty go.
Thumpety thump, thump, thumpety thump, thump,
over the hills of snow.
Frosty the Snowman, knew the sun was hot that day,
so he said, "Let's run, and we'll have some fun now, before I melt away."
Down to the village, with a brooomstick in his hand,
Running here and there, all around the square,
sayin', "Catch me if you can."
He led them down the streets of town, right to the traffic cop;
and only paused a moment, when he heard him holler, "Stop!"
For Frosty, the Snowman, had to hurry on his way,
But he waved goodbye, sayin' "Don't cry, I'll be back again some day."
This message was edited Nov 29, 2003 12:42 PM
This message was edited Nov 30, 2003 8:55 PM
The most memorable but not good was when my daughter was 5 or 6 and came down with the measles for Christmas. 105.6 temp for 4 days unless given tylenol and asprin every 2 hours around the clock along with alcohol sponge baths and then only came down to 102. That was a very long week for both of us. Dr wanted to know if she had her shots. Duh you gave them to her!!!!!!
Gosh Donna, that sounds just terrible! I am surprised that doctor did not admit her for IV fluids and a cooling mat. I bet when she got over it you were so thankful!
Shelly ....... my, what did you edit out? LOL...... I am so nosy!
LOL Kell, I edited saying that song brought back memories.. now I watch frosty, and think to myself... hmmmm LOL did I REALLY cry at the end, when he had to leave?? :o) Thats all Kell
Donna, WOW! Im sorry that you had that time, but I am so glad that all turned out ok.
Why did you edit it out? See how nosy I can be? LOL
lmbo Kell... gaw, I was bored lastnight, and kinda in one of those no one gives a poo kinda moods.. ya know? LOL so, I edited it!
That could be said for 99% of these posts but so what? It is a way to connect and to share.
And I care what you say (obviously)LOL! Cheer up............... :))
I was wondering too Shelly.......glad I know now what it was so I can sleep tonight......Otherwise I be laying there thinking.....Man I wonder what Shelly said that she had to go and edit......and sometimes I lay there and Think (yes I think sometimes) huh,wonder why they said that!!!!..........LOL
Guess I'm pretty nosey toooooo....and maybe that's why I don't sleep much either...
Dee
I have lots of good memories, especially of spending time with my Grandparents. I spent a lot of my younger years with them and miss them so much. Grandpa always dressed up like Santa for all the kids in our small town and came in on a sleigh with horses, of course, sometimes the sleigh was a wagon with wheels when there was no snow. He gave out candy canes to everyone and usually a piece of fruit. I remember thinking about the bells he carried with him and how big they were. Of course, I remember when I first figured out that he was my grandpa too, but I was so proud of him for being Santa for all the other kids. It is because of Grandpa and Grandma that Christmas is my favorite holiday. We always had a big meal around their dining room table and it was always so good. How we got all those people in that house, I'll never know. Maybe we were all smaller in stature back then. LOL. I know I was. When I was a kid, giving gifts came second to being together. We made gifts for each other. One year I helped Grandma make lots of felt Christmas stockings, the size that silver dollars would fit into. She always would tat and make pillow cases for us all. I wish I had learned how to do that. Well, this is enough for now. I need to go to the kitchen soon and fix our evening meal. Christmas will be here soon and hopefully we will all make even more memories for us and our families.
Kell... thank you! I am cheered up now! Ya know, there are some wonderful people here! It was just one of those moods. Silly.. or hormones, or both, I dunno! LOL
LOL Dee... Im sorry. Im glad you can sleep tonight!
Awwww I love that Brugie! How neat! I love stories of my grandparents too! I smiled so big when you put "I remember when I first figured out that he was my grandpa too, but I was so proud of him for being Santa for all the other kids."
You are just so sweet!
You ladies make me smile! I can never give enough thanks for the smiles!!!
Glad you are smiling Shelly! Most here are sweethearts and those that aren't, I always figure they must not have had a very happy life.
Which brings me to Brugie's story, I loved it. I could picture her Grandpa all dressed up and the Christmas dinner table crowded with love and good cheer. I bet you gave all you got from your grandparents back to your kids Brugie, for usually people give back out what you get in! LOL, if that make sense!
Thanks Kell and Shelly. I try to give back, not to say that I don't get upset with my kids and grandkids from time to time, but I think parents are allowed that.
Yes Shirley that is a great story. I miss my grandparents very much and think of them often.
When I was a kid, Christmas was a family event. On Holy Eve, the family came together to sing the old Christmas Carols under the Christmas Tree and afterwards for the traditional Holy Eve meal. Presents were secondary,it was a needed pullover or underwear AND maybe: a few oranges, bananas and a little chocolate. Oranges and bananas were rare at that time.
I like this story! Thank you Monika
I can appreciate your story Monika! My mom says the same thing. It was such true present to get fresh fruit. LOL St Nicholas still comes and somehow fills our cleaned shoes with fruit on the 6th. :o)
I'd have to say visiting my Aunt Mae in Cleveland Ohio in the 60's ..Aunt Mae with her fluorescent orange updoo ,shocking pea green pant suit with her sliver foil revolving tree with color wheel and let's not forget polka parade blasting on the T.V ! Now that's what Christmas memories are made of !! : )
Oh my gosh, now John, you are hitting close to home there. LOL!! I had one of those updoos. I think my worst pant suit was canary yellow, but I drew the line at the aluminum tree. Funny stuff. How could you forget something like this and I'm sure they are good memories too. Sure brought me back in time again.
St Nikolaus, in other parts of Germany, his name is Knecht Rupprecht, comes in the evening of Dec. 5. and visits all children. - He asked us, if we had been nice all year.....boy,he knew everything LOL! We had to say poems and had to promise to be nice until his next visit and then got our gifts like sweets and fruits. On Holy Eve, it the Christkind, who comes with presents down to the earth.
Moms favorite Christmas Carol was: Am Weihnachtsbaum, die Lichter brennen...... with all its verses. My sister and I love it also.
I just found out that it was Germans that brought us the custom of trimming our Christmas trees! Did you know that Monika??
O Christmas Tree
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree
How are thy leaves so verdant
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree
How are thy leaves so verdant
Not only in the summertime
But even in winter is thy prime
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree
How are thy leaves so verdant
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree
Much pleasure doth thou bring me
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree
Much pleasure doth thou bring me
For every year the Christmas tree
Brings to us all both joy and glee
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree
Much pleasure doth thou bring me
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree
Thy candles shhine out brightly
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree
Thy candles shine out brightly
Each bough doth hold its tiny light
That makes each toy to sparkle bright
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree
Thy candles shine out brightly
What I found:
Henry Schwan might have thought he was giving his congregation a gift when he set up a Christmas tree in his Cleveland, Ohio, church in 1851. But the gesture met with outrage instead. Newly emigrated from Germany, the Reverend Mr. Schwan did not realize that dragging a tree into the holiday would be regarded as sheer paganism. For while Chirstmas trees were by then part of the festivities in some households, Schwan's was the first tree ever to appear in an American church. Even as late as 1883 The New York Times was railing against "the German Christmas tree," calling it "a rootless and lifeless corpse, never worthy of the day."
It was, in fact, Germans who brought the custom of trimming trees to America, beginning in Pennsylvania in the 18th century. By 1747 the Moravians, a religious sect, were decorating their holiday tables with pyramids of greens. And by 1825 the Christmas season in Philadephia was not complete without a walk about town to view the elaborately decorated tree.
Although still far from common in the early decades of the 1800's, the tradition of decorating trees began to spread as German settlers moved west. Not every community, however, offered a choice of evergreens. A sassafras sapling decorated with candles, hickory nuts, and hawthorn berries brightened on family's Christmas in St. Clair County, Illinois, in 1833. In frontier Kansas, dried sunflowers served as makeshift "trees," and on the high plains of Colorado, families made do with cottonwoods.
While some people would rather have decorated a tumbleweed than have no tree at all, general acceptance was slow. Articles that appeared in Godey's Lady's Book and other magazines helped to popularize the custom. And at Christmastime in 1850 the Charleston Courier proudly reported that the ladies of the city decorated a special tree to greet the arrival of soprano Jenny Lind.
By the turn of the century, the demand for Christmas trees was such that the state of Maine alone was harvesting some 1.5 million balsam firs every year. All those trees were collected from the wild, a fact that prompted President Theodore Roosevelt to urge a ban on Christmas trees. He ended his boycott only after discovering that his own sons had snuck a tree into the White House, and the head of the Forest Service, in the boys' defense, persuaded him that thinning the forest could be not only safe but beneficial. In any event the day of the collected tree was ending for in 1901 a New Jersey farmer discovered that the ever-growing demand for Christmas trees made them a highly profitable seasonal crop.
http://www.sexylegsplaygirl.com/laverne/Oh-Christmas-Tree.html
This message was edited Dec 3, 2003 8:35 AM
The german words are:
O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum
wie grün sind deine Blätter.
Du grünst nicht nur zur Sommerzeit,
nein auch im Winter, wenn es schneit.
O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum,
wie grün sind deine Blätter.
it equals the english text.
O Tannenbaum........
du kannst mir sehr gefallen.
Wie oft hat nicht zur Weihnachtszeit
ein Baum von Dir mich hocherfreut.
O Tannenbaum.........
O Tannenbaum.........
dein Kleid will mich was lehren.
Die Hoffnung und Beständigkeit
gibt Trost und Kraft zu jederzeit.
O Tannenbaum.......
The verses differ from the english text.
The Christmas customs go way back into the time, when the german tribes were practicing their own Time of the Winter Sun change. The days between the 27. - 31. of Dec. are still named the time 'between the years'. It was a none existing time for our forfathers and all kind of bad demons were haunting peoples.
Even into our days, it was not allowed to do the laundry during these days because it would bring bad luck. My sisters and I had a hard stand against our mother.
You will find many similarities in Denmark, Sweden etc.