~*~ Happy New Year 2012 ~*~

Life gets way too busy! I wanted to tell you some Christmas memories from years gone by, but Christmas has come and gone, and now a new year is upon us! There there, darling. Don't cry. I'm old, so I can talk about Christmas whenever I please. Listen to a few stories from the good old days.

Let's go way back to the early 1950s. Ma & Pa owned a grocery store in Kettle River, Minnesota, and we lived upstairs. On this Christmas Eve, the most wonderful thing happened: the "Gail of the Golden West" cowgirl doll that stood on one of the top shelves in the store was magically transported to lie under our Christmas tree ... for me!!

 

Twenty-seven years later, in Brimson, MN, I was sitting up all night long, finishing a pair of homemade dolls for my young daughter. They were about 18" tall, a boy & a girl, and each had a set of clothes that could be taken off and put back on. Fortunately, my younger daughter was just 5 months old, so she was happy with a store-bought activity board that would attach to her crib.

My dearest Christmas memory from my early years in Haiti (1981-1984) is simply of the girls playing outside in shorts and sleeveless shirts. No snow, no sleds; but white Christmas trees (a tree branch painted white and stuck in a can of cement) and colorful tissue-paper lanterns lighting up the night.

The picture below was taken on Christmas Day 2002, in Charlotte, North Carolina. My grandson was 3-1/2 years old at the time.

This is what I wrote on the back of the photo: I made a birthday cake for Jesus. I asked Marshall if he remembered whose birthday it was. "Yours?" he asked. No! I showed him the snow globe. "Oh! Jesus! He's not here yet. He must be late. Maybe he'll get here tomorrow." I told him he could go ahead and blow out the candle :-)

I hope you have wonderful memories of bygone Christmases that you hold in your heart. May the good Lord bless you and keep you throughout this New Year of 2012.

P.S. The photo of Gail of the Golden West is not mine. It came from eBay and I want to give credit where credit is due.