CHRISTMAS MEMORIES: DO YOU REMEMBER…?

CHRISTMAS MEMORIES: DO YOU REMEMBER…?

One of the benefits of belonging to the senior citizen club is that you have tons of memories that are fun to recall. As Christmas approaches, I can always slip into my memory bank and recall all of the fond memories that I enjoyed in my youth during the Christmas season. They never fail to bring a smile to my face. 

Which of my old memories of the Christmas season did you also experience and remember? Do you remember:

• when mandarin oranges arrived in the little wooden box that was later used to help start the fire in the coal stove
• bubble lights on a Christmas tree and the little metal reflectors that you attached between the tree lights and the sockets
• when the final step in decorating the Christmas tree was placing long silver tinsel on the branches one piece at a time
• there was always a bowl of mixed nuts on the kitchen table that had to be shelled with a nutcracker and a sharp pick
• when neighbors would drop by unannounced with a bottle of whiskey or wine to make a Christmas visit
• in cold weather, there was so much frost on the INSIDE of the windows that you would melt peepholes with your warm fingers
• going out to play no matter how cold wearing boots, snow pants, a warm jacket, gloves, a winter hat, and a scarf around our necks
• going to midnight mass on Christmas Eve at 10:30 or 11:00 pm in order to get a good seat so you wouldn’t have to stand
• sharing a meatless Christmas Eve supper with twelve (if possible) different dishes to represent each of the apostles
• going “tobogganing” down a nearby hill on a piece of cardboard or inside a cardboard box under the stars

If we fast forward to today, the comparable memories of today’s youth would look something like this:

• mandarin oranges are available all year now. Instead of a box they come in a mesh bag or are bought in bulk
• bubble lights and reflectors are obsolete and now Christmas trees can be purchased that are totally decorated when you buy them
• silver tinsel is also a long-gone memory for most. Instead, many purchase metallic silver Christmas trees that can be folded up
• If there are any nuts anywhere in the house they are contained in plastic bags and usually only used for baking, not snacking
• nobody ever drops in to visit anyone uninvited. It is not socially acceptable in today’s “by appointment only” world
• if it ever gets too cold in the house i.e. below 68 degrees, we are forced to just turn up the thermostat. No frosty windows anywhere.
• there is no need for an assortment of warm outdoor clothes as when it gets too cold no one goes outside. That is what TV is for!
• no need to rush to mass early, if at all, on Christmas Eve as you can stay home and watch it on television if you choose
• the only way that a twelve-course dinner would be available is if you order Skip the Dishes from four or five different restaurants
• rather than face the cold and dangers of outside tobogganing there are Nintendo or Gameboys or Wi games to play indoors

Won’t today’s generation have a dearth of Christmas memories compared to those that we still carry in our memory banks? Kind of sad, isn’t it?