I feel a little less bah-humbug-y about Christmas this year. I haven’t been able to get in the spirit of it since Kathy died. It was her favorite holiday and she did much of the planning and was responsible for most of the fun.
I think I owe most of it to my friends in the Rockdale Downtown Association. The tree lighting event was a lot of fun and was a big success considering we did all the planning only a few weeks out.
My friend Kara gave me a Christmas mask to wear and I’ve been wearing it ever since. I think it’s helped.
Even though our Christmas will be much smaller than usual this year, much like our Thanksgiving, it’ll still be fun. Mom has started putting her Christmas decorations around the house and that helps too.
Last Christmas I had just moved back to Rockdale and I told Mom I had a big tree in my storage room if she wanted to use it. It is nine feet tall and took a lot of ornaments to fill it. This year we are going with a much smaller tree and a much smaller number of people, and that’s okay.
Earlier this year I ordered half a cow’s worth of meat because I thought there was going to be a beef shortage due to the virus. I made sure to get a standing rib roast which is what we always have for our Christmas dinner. It’s smaller than usual too but that’s okay because I got it for $3 a pound, which is much cheaper than the grocery store.
The good news about the COVID-19 vaccines and their efficacy are helping as well. The future looks hopeful even though from now through February are going to be a hideous mess.
I want Mom and Dad to get it as soon as it’s available for them. I, of course, will get it too, but they are in a highrisk category and I’ve been so afraid of bringing something home to them. So I don’t get out much, and that’s okay too.
Mom’s Christmas decorations also bring back lots of good childhood memories. Mom and Dad went all out at Christmas including staying up late to “help” Santa leave the gifts.
Our stockings were the only things around the tree we were allowed to look at until Mom and Dad got out of bed. Filled with little toys, candy, nuts and there was always an orange in the toe. Santa’s presents weren’t wrapped. Just displayed around the tree so I guess we were able to look at those too now that I think about it. It was a long time ago.
When we were very young we’d have Christmas lunch at my Cooke grandparents on the good china and eaten with their silver, a tradition that continues to this day though the meal is a little less formal now.
One year Kathy got a puppy dog who she named Warren after a favorite teacher. I got a 1968 Ford Mustang the Christmas after I turned 16. They wrapped the keys and put them under the tree. That was a memorable Christmas!
That car brings up another memory. I had a fender bender in high school and Peanut and Lee Ida fixed it up for me. They forgot to bolt the engine down on that side so every once in a while the engine would sit down on the fuel line and the car would just take off by itself.
One time I was on the way to The Reporter stopped at the light downtown by the library and the car just took off by itself through the light.
I was kind of skinny in high school and the car didn’t have power brakes so I’d have to use both feet to stop it. Anyway, the car was taking off and I had the brakes on so I was doing circles in the middle of the intersection.
Finally it stopped and I drove to the office. Somebody had already called Dad to tell him I was hot-rodding in the middle of US 79.
Peanut and Lee Ida just laughed when they realized they’d forgotten to bolt it down.
But I digress. Even though our Christmases may be a little different this year, they’ll still be fun. We stay to ourselves this year so that next year no one is missing.
- Log in or Subscribe to post comments.