Let’s get the bitter out of the way. My mom died on Christmas Day when I was in 10th grade. She had been in a coma for about a week. My dad and I spent Christmas Day with my sister and her family in Lehighton. We left there around 5 PM and drove home in a blinding snowstorm. My dad was a good winter driver. An interesting aside, my dad always drove using both feet, one for the brake the other for the gas. It took us about two hours to get to Slatington from Lehighton. I remember we couldn’t make it up the Main Street hill and he backed the car down and parked it on Diamond Street. This was, of course, before cell phones. He and I walked up the hill, through the snow, to our home at 46 Dowell Street. We were surprised to see the lights on when we got there. My brothers were there to tell us that my mom had passed away a few hours ago.
My dad died the day after Christmas when I was 31. Not a lot of drama there. We knew he was dying from years of smoking L and M cigarettes at the rate of three packs a day. But the timing of his death, ugh.
On to the sweet!! Just a couple happy thoughts from childhood Christmases. One year I got a bb gun for Christmas. It wasn’t a Red Ryder, like the one from A Christmas Story. It was a Daisy and I never shot my eye out! I used it a lot over the next year, terrorizing, and always missing, the birds and tin cans of Slatington’s outskirts. Yes, my attitude toward shooting at animals has evolved!
The year my mom was dying in the hospital, I expected no presents from my dad. But he surprised me with The Beatles White Album. The album was wonderful! Of course, it was the Beatles! But the thought that in spite of everything my dad was going through, that he would take the time to get me something he knew I would love, made this a most memorable Christmas present.
My last Christmas memory is a funny hat story. My sister-in-law, Eileen, got Russian hats for me, my dad, and her husband, my brother Jim. I’m sure you know the hat I am talking about. Fur and classic. Think War and Peace or Doctor Zhivago. I think we all opened them at the same time, looked at each other, and laughed. Russian hats in Slatington. That was not going to fly. I hope we didn’t hurt her feelings because she remains one of the most generous and giving women I have ever known. A true influence in my life. That being said…not the best at selecting winter hats!
That’s enough nostalgia for today. I wish all of my readers a very merry Christmas. I hope you find peace on Christmas Eve and presents under your tree on Christmas Day. If you are not Christian, or just aren’t celebrating Christmas for other reasons, I wish you happiness and laughter. I am taking a blog break until New Year’s Eve Day. If you are out today looking for last minute gifts, I hear that Russian hats are making a comeback! I wish you all love and kindness and the best holiday season you can imagine!
A Semi-retired Kind of Life 