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Christmas Memories
Then ... and Now
(updated December, 2007)

(Playing ~ "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year")

Doesn't this picture take you way back?
...... back to your earlier growing-up years at home!!

A few of my own memories ..... looking back .....

..... to the days when we had colder (it seemed) winters and more frequent snows in Chattanooga.

..... to the excitement of anticipating Christmas as a child. To all the Christmas preparations. To telling Mother
(wasn't this terrible), after I learned there was no Santa Claus, that I would enlighten my younger sister Pat
if I didn't get to pick out my doll that year. Yes, terrible, but I'm afraid I remember.

..... to watching Daddy put the tracks for my brother's Lionel train together. I think he easily enjoyed it
as much as David. After assembling, he put the tracks on a big piece of plywood to keep it intact.

..... to watching David play with his elaborate metal erector set. I still remember
the motorized Ferris Wheel he made, probably with Daddy's help at first.

..... to remembering so many of the dolls I had.

Nancy
(1933)

My very favorite, received the Christmas I was 5 years old, I named "Nancy."
I still have her, worse for the wear, and she sits in a prominent place in a bookcase in our den.

We did so love to go out a few nights before Christmas to see all the beautiful decorations and lights. One place
I remember was on Missionary Ridge, which everyone referrred to as "Santa Claus Lane" at Christmastime.

It was also always part of the holiday tradition to go to downtown Chattanooga to the Electric Power Board
at Market and 6th to see the wonderful motorized Christmas scenes displayed in each window. Those of us
who were privileged to enjoy it in those days will never forget the excitement!

I remember helping Mother decorate the tree and in later years sitting around the kitchen table with her
as we wrapped Christmas presents. She taught me how to make pretty flowers out of the ribbon ....
for instance, red poinsettias. She had pretty little tea cups (slightly larger than the demitasse cups that
she collected) that we always placed on the mantle with a candle inside. I still feel warm and cozy
inside thinking about the beauty of those lighted candles in the cups.

When my brother and sister and I were small, we always waited until Christmas morn, of course, to see what Santa
had brought and to open presents. I can still remember going to the living room one year in the pre-dawn hours to see
what was visible in the dark. One strong memory is seeing through the shadows the outline of a small table and chairs.
How excited I was about that!

Rarely did a Christmas morn dawn, when we were old enough, that we did not get a new pair of skates. These were
the days when skates were little metal forms that you tightened onto the soles of your shoes, if you were lucky enough
to have good soles. In our neighborhood, there were few cars in those days ~ late 1930s and early 40s ~ so we
could freely skate not only on our sidewalks but also up and down the streets. It seemed all the kids
in the neighborhood were out!

As we grew older, we would open one or two things on Christmas Eve and save the rest for Christmas morn.
One beloved tradition in our home was our special late Christmas morning big breakfast. After the
excitement had died down, we all five enjoyed this breakfast time together and spent the remainder of
the day in leisure. Mother did not fix a big Christmas meal, which I associated only with Thanksgiving.
(After I married, I realized the big Christmas meal was expected, so I always have our family for dinner
on Christmas Eve. Then we go to church for the beautiful and meaningful 11:00 p.m. service.)

After my sister's first son Tommy was old enough, he was relegated to the position of Santa Claus and
passed out the gifts on Christmas morn. Daddy was a person with a dry wit and a funny sense of humor,
and we noticed (every year, in fact) that he would never open a gift when Tommy presented it, but waited
until everyone else's gifts had been opened. Then, with a twinkle in his eye that said "gotcha,"
he would proceed on center stage!

Well, memories are precious ....... and this is only a small sampling!

The pictures below are the youngsters in our familly.

First group ....

Mother and Daddy's great-grandsons and great-great grandsons/niece.

Tommy and Andy are sons of my sister Pat and her late husband, Doyle.

2006
Great-nephews, Jonathan and Trevor,
(growing up)
sons of my nephew Andy and Mary Jo (Hill) McDaniel

2006
Great-great-nephews Jacob and Braydon and with Pepper (the new Shih Tzu) ,
sons of Jennifer McDaniel Evans and Chad Evans
Jennifer is daughter of my nephew Tom and Patti (Posey) McDaniel.

2006
Great-great-nephews and great-great niece
Tristan, McKenzie and Tyler
children of Brooke (McDaniel) and Danny Kilgore
Brooke is daughter of my nephew Tom McDaniel and stepdaughter of wife Patti.

Second group ....

George's and my great-granddaughters.
Henry and Jim are George's sons; my stepsons.

2007
Great-granddaughters Julia and Claire,
daughters of Resa (Reed) and Jason Martin
Jason is son of Brenda (Washer) Harding and husband Henry.

2007
Great-granddaughters Kristen and Olivia,
daughters of Jessica (Murphy) and John Harding
John is son of Jim Harding and Mary Shipp Harding.

2007
Great-granddaughters Isabella and the newest, Sophia
with mom Rachel (Harding) and dad Conrad Macaso
Rachel is daughter of Jim Harding and Mary Shipp Harding.

I'd love it if you would sign my guest book ... click on my picture (about age 4).

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