Christmas Memories
 

Anyone want to share some cheesy memories? I'll go first, as my wife and I were just talking about this with my brother:

The one that sticks out the most for me was Christmas 1992. It was our first christmas living in east Tennessee. I was really into comic books at the time (I was 13 yrs old).

Superman had "died" just a few weeks before in the comic books, and they promoted his death with a black polybagged special issue. It had a bloody "S" shield on the front, I remember.

We opened all the presents that morning, and I was happy, and not expecting anything else. My dad said " Hey Brandon, run into my office, and look in the bottom desk drawer and get another blank tape for the video recorder "...and of course he had the comic lying in there! I was blown away and just genuinely surprised.

Evidently my brother and sister knew about it, as everyone was laughing as I had my "freak out" moment. Thinking about that makes me smile, and I know my old man had a hard time finding that issue for me. That memory means a lot to me, especially now since my father has passed away.

The ONLY memory of Christmas that has stuck in my mind was Christmas 1977 - The only year my family received a large amount of presents and such...

But c'mon, that was only because we lost my Father on Oct.22, and my Father's Father just weeks afterwards on Nov.11. Some thought the extra amount of gifts would soothe the pain (And I hold no blame towards them for that) but it didnt. Just a temporary diversion from a major problem.

Til this day I have a hard time during the holidays, add to the mental pain of seeing what Debbie went through in Christmastime 2003 with her cancer battle and losing her this year and for me the holidays are a more severe and very personal repeat of 1977. "Strange deja-vu"...

No cheesy thoughts for me...

I'm only just starting to enjoy Xmas again since getting rid of my lowlife waste of space husband. :D

Huzzah! :D

I don't think I have a cheesy Christmas moment per se, aside from the little traditions my family has every year, but 2 years ago, after we all worked really hard decorating our tree, my son & I sat down on the couch to admire our handiwork, and my daughter, who was about 4 at the time, went around behind it and succeeded in immediately pulling it down on top of herself somehow.

It made a really loud crashing sound and I jumped up to get it off of her right away, thinking she'd be all mangled from the broken ornaments (she was fortunately NOT hurt), but the brief moment of her little arms and legs flailing wildly as she thrashed around under it, yelling, "AHHHH, IT GOT ME!!! HELP!!!" was pretty priceless.

:lol:

Christmas in Peru (and all south hemisphere) means summer begins, too. I remember when we started to go to the beach, during xmas week.

I also remember some guests on christmas eve, like uncles visiting Peru that week.

My mother passed away in nov 2006, and of course christmas is not the same anymore, but actually I lost the christmas feeling long ago, I guess during the 80s, teen years, when one start to loose innocence..

Christmas
 

One memory that stands out is when my sister and I were young. My parents got lazy one year and hid the presents in the basement under a blanket. We were down there playing and the two of us couldn't decide if we should peak. My sister is 4 years older and I guess more trust worthy because she kept saying "No no no" as I kept inching closer to the blanket. Finally I pulled it off really quickly, but she covered her eyes. It didn't matter because I saw what she got! "YOU GOT FRESH and FANCY"! I screamed! It was this thing where you could make your own make up and stuff, that she had asked for. Of course after I spoiled her surprise I lost all nerve and put the blanket back on before I saw any of my stuff.

I also remember listening to this album over and over again until we wore it out! Did anyone else have it?
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c6...pksanta300.jpg

Yeah I know that feeling. My brother and I were sitting around (he's visiting from Atlanta) and talking about our Christmases past. It's amazing how we're at the point now where we don't really need gifts, or want them. They're still great to receive, but, we started talking about how it would feel to have no gifts. When we were kids, we generally always got what we wanted (within reason, cause there were 3 of us!)...so I can't imagine being 10 yrs old and not having anything to open. We set a dollar amount and went to Toys R Us to go "Toys For Tots" shopping. We want OTHER kids to have a nice holiday for once!

I am not making this up.
This is from Christmas in the Stars: The Star Wars Christmas Album
"The album is notable for featuring the first professional recording of Jon Bon Jovi (credited as John Bongiovi), who sings lead vocals on the song "R2-D2 We Wish You A Merry Christmas." Jon's cousin Tony Bongiovi co-produced the album and ran the recording studio, where Jon was working sweeping floors at the time."

R2D2 We Wish You a Merry Christmas
http://www.mediafire.com/?qj4mmnycyej

I don't know about cheesy, but kind of bitter sweet...

I was one of 8 kids, being #6., while #3 + 4 were twins named Kate & Karyn.

My sister Karyn had developed rheumatic fever when she was five and had a bad heart. She was 16 when she died. She only weighed 60 pounds.

She couldn't climb the stairs to go to bed, so she slept on the couch. She loved watching the Christmas tree. She would say, "I am going to have one all year around." Since she was so sick, mom would let the tree stay up longer than it should. One year it stayed up until August. It was a real tree. Mom quit letting us light it in March. (It was a real fire hazard. ) But my parents could not say no to Karyn.

At 16 when Karyn and Kate were starting their junior year, a blood vessel broke and went straight to Karyn's heart. She died at home, on a warm August afternoon, falling off the couch.

My parents were devastated. That Christmas, my dad took a little tree out to the cemetery and hooked lights up with a car battery. He continued to do this every Christmas Eve and would take the tree down on Christmas Day. Some years he did it with my mom and some years he did it alone, after my mom died. Some years one of us kids would accompany him. One year there was a blizzard, so he took his little Ford Tractor, and donning a pair of coveralls, he headed to the cemetery, which was about 5 miles outside of town.

People who lived out in the country near the cemetery, said they loved to see the lights reflected off the polished granite of the tombstones, like the cemetery community was celebrating their own Christmas.

My dad remarked that the tree was never vandalized, nor was anything ever stolen. When he came out on Christmas Day, he could see animal foot prints where they had come close to the tree and had taken a ball or two and rolled it on the ground.

Then in 1990, my dad got cancer, had a stoke and was paralyzed. My brother David, offered to put up the tree, and my dad said no. He said that the time had come for Karyn to grow up. (She would have been 41 that year.)

Someday, I want to go back to Nebraska (600 miles) for Christmas and set up a tree on Christmas Eve for my mom, my dad and Karyn. It tugs at my heart, that I don't live there anymore, but the story is a tribute to my dad and his love for his child.

Never a Christmas goes by that I don't think about that little tree and my dad's Christmas routine.

(P.S. Cool thread topic Brandon.)

I have tons of Christmas "memories", which are all great in their own semi-materialistic way, but THIS year, I have the greatest Christmas "anticipation".
:blob2:

My beautiful wife, Susan, & I are heading to Oklahoma for a "family reunion" of sorts. Her mom, sister & bro-in-law live there (we're staying at her sister's)...her daughter and son-in-law and our VERY soon-to-be 2 yr old grandson are driving down from Denver. I just can't wait...the countdown has begun..12 days, 1 hour & 13 minutes until flight time. The only bummer is that we have to board our beagle instead of taking her with us (yes, she WAS invited to join the festivities, but logistically it just wouldn't work out). The beagle used to be my mother-in-law's until about 3 1/2 years ago...that's a story too long for this post.

That was beautiful, Betsy. Thank you for that.

^ It was. :nod:

The cheesiest memories I have involve gifts from the 80's - like how excited I was when I got a Cabbage Patch Doll in 1983. :laugh: Atari was a big event too.

Have fun in Norman...
 

and if your family wants to see a cool Christmas light display, drive 26 miles to Chickasha for the Festival of Lights, truly a great festival atmosphere for all.

Atari!

Some of my favourite Christmas memories involve Atari. A few days before Christmas 2006, I saw an ad online for an Atari 2600 JR and a few games. I begged my mom for it. Christmas morning rolled around and I never got that Atari, until my auntie came over. She gave us our presents, and sometime after that she went out to her car and brought in a heavy box. Inside was that Atari I wanted! I was so excited (note: this was 29 years after the Atari was introduced!) My family and I spent the rest of Christmas playing Atari and sharing old memories. That Christmas was so special, because the auntie who gave me that Atari committed suicide six months later. I'm going to keep that 2600 until the day I die, knowing it was the last Christmas present I ever received from my favourite auntie.

Incidentally, I joined The Ledge the day my auntie died.

"Christmas memories" sounds way too happy. I have Christmas flashbacks. Sure, they always start out happy, but I usually end up in fetal position if I think about it too long. Worst memory involved me saying "Dad, but the gun away." Second-worst was throwing the football around with my 7o-something VERY drunk grandfather. Seriously, f*ck Santa.