Title: Christmas Remembered
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Blog Entry: Each year that passes, it seems to me Christmas gets more and more complicated and different from what I experienced as a child. Yes, I know that this is what we call progress. It is not good to live in the past. But sometimes,, just for one brief moment, it is refreshing to go there again ~ ~ It all kind of started right after the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Santa had arrived and it was now officially the "Christmas Season" For some strange reason today it starts right around Halloween! My Mom and I spent many happy hours walking around on 34th Street. And, believe me, it was a Miracle!! There were pushcarts in the street selling hot chestnuts and a Salvation Army Santa on every corner ringing his bell. Shoppers darted about carrying huge gaily decorated paper shopping bags. I got to go and Meet Santa upstairs in Macy's, ride the carousel and get a present to take home. Many days it was bitter cold but we were all bundled up and happy. Today we shop in climatically controlled malls and our merchandise is thrown in flimsy plastic bags. Nearer to the big day we watched "live" Christmas specials with Perry Como and Andy Williams. Everyone had a real tree. Ours was decorated with an assortment of glass balls that had been collected over the years by my grandmother. They were all different sizes and no two matched. Some were scratched and worn, others were a bit newer. We draped aluminum tinsel all over the tree and hung different color lights through it. They were huge. They did not blink on and off and they did not "chase" each other. I guess nobody had thought of a "theme tree" just yet. The focal point of the room was the nativity scene created by my grandmother. It had all different size shepherds and animals. Some were very old and broken down. It was fun to move them from place to place. The baby Jesus was surrounded by any kind of religious artifact my grandmother saw fit to place next to him. But I would sit and stare at all those people in that little stable and felt that they were actually with me and blessing me. On one very special night we would sit down with an old worn address book and write out Christmas cards. There was no doubt you would have wriiter's cramp when you were done. Everyone wrote their return address up in the corner by hand. I knew no one who had little stickers with their name and address already printed on them. When we began to receive cards we strung them across the room and over the doorways. They were part of the decorating theme. Nobody had even dreamt of an "E-card" just yet. Christmas Eve for me was spent with my Italian family. That meant eating a feast of sea food. We sang Christmas Carols with the neighbors in the backyard. At midnight it became wonderful! The whole family gathered around the tree and the exchange of presents began. There was wrapping paper everywhere and my cousins and I were the happiest children alive on that night. After more feasting on homemade goodies we went to bed while the adults stayed up and usually played cards. The next morning we went to Christmas Mass and then had another family gathering for the dinner. This happened every year of my childhood. How was it possible ....... No one in the family lived more than a thirty minuet car ride away!! I suppose not many children today would be so thrilled to receive a pair of metal roller skates, or a cowboy gun and holster, a doll that did absolutely nothing, a tin of tinker toys, some paper dolls and a new pair of flannel pajamas. Today's children live in a world of CD's, DVD's, Game Boys, and laptops. They know what "fiber optic" Christmas trees are. There houses are often decorated with neat rows of little white icicle lights. They might not be able to visit Grandma, but they can have an "online chat" with her. I will never forget the sights and feelings of Christmas for me as a child. Last year my family and I spent a magical evening in New York City. We went to see the tree and ice skaters at Rockafella Center. It was on that night that I was able to step back into my childhood and for a brief moment bring my grandchildren with me ~
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