And All Through The House....Nah That's A Different Story.
How About Your Christmas Past? Is There A Memorable One? Is There One That Stands Out More Than Another?
There Were Plenty Of Memories Of Christmas Past While Growing Up. I Grew Up In A Large Family Where There Were Plenty Of Activities Every Christmas Morning.
I Would Have To Say That The Christmas That Stands Out The Most For Me Is The Christmas of 1969.
I Was Only 14 Years Old At The Time. I Was At The Age Where Hanging With My Friends, Playing Sports And Ofcourse Girls Were The Norm.
I Have No Idea Of The Gift I Received That Year From My Parents. No Matter What The Gift Was Or Even The Value Of The Gift, It Would Never Come Close To The Gift I Received That Year From An "Old" Friend.
Her Name Was Emma Clifton, But I Always Called Her Grandma Clifton. She Lived Alone In A Dilapidated House That Looked Deserted And Abandoned. Even Though She Had Family, They Were Either Too Busy Or Never Cared Enough To Visit Her On A Regular Basis. I Befriended This Lady By Helping Her As Much As I Could. She Was 83 Years Old And Was Too Weak To Go Into The Basement To Put Coal In Her Furnace.
I Found Myself Getting Up At 5:30 Every Morning In The Winter Months To Fire Up Her Furnace Before I Got Myself Ready For School.
Christmas Of 1969 Will Always Have A Special Memory For Me Because Of Grandma Clifton. On Christmas Eve We Decorated A Small Tree And Sang A Couple Well Known Carols That You Never Seem To Forget.
On Christmas Day I Proudly Carried My Gift To Grandma's House, Along With A Plate Full Of Christmas Dinner Prepared By My Mother.
The Moon Landing Was A Big Deal That Year And It Seemed That Was What Everybody Was Talking About. Grandma Clifton Didn't Own A Television Set So She Never Had The Opportunity To Watch The Landing Like Alot Of Us Did. That Year I Gave Her A Model Of Apollo 11 And Neil Armstrong With The American Flag.
With Her Toothless Smile As She Thanked Me, It Melted My Heart. A Tear Rolled Down Her Cheek That Day And It Disturbed Me Deeply. She Told Me She Didn't Have Anything To Give Me. I Took her Frail Hands And Told Her I Never Expected A Gift From Her. So Why The Tears I Asked? She Told Me How Lucky She Was To Have A Person Who Really Cared To Spend Christmas Day With A Lonely Old Lady.
I Will Never Forget The Joy She Had On Her Face That Day. I Knew It Would Last A Lifetime For Me. It's As Vivid To Me As If It Happened Just Yesterday.
Even Though It Has Been Memories Ago, The Feeling It Brings To Me Today Is That Of Gratitude And Thankfulness And Sharing.
The Lessons That Life Brings To Us Can Never Be Found In A Text Book.
Each Year On Christmas Eve I Always Remember That Special Day In 1969. There Are Other Grandma Clifton's Out There Someplace And It's Our Duty To Spread The Love, The Joy, And The Giving Of Ourselves.
Happy Birthday Jesus!
