Christmas is a good time to remember fond memories of the past. On the drive home tonight, I was thinking about this one Christmas when I was about ten or eleven. After dinner one night, right before Christmas, my brother and I were finishing up the dishes and my Dad told us to take the garbage out to the garage. He specifically told us both to go, which was strange, but we did not give it much thought. We bundled everything up and took it out and put it in the trash cans.
When we came back in, mom and dad were waiting for us with bright looks of breathless expectation. My brother and I looked at each other wondering what the hell was going on and after a moment my dad groused at us to go back out to the garage and look around to make sure we didn’t “miss nothing”. When we did, we found two brand new BMX bicycles lined up and waiting for us. One was blue and one was black, but they were otherwise identical. As brothers do, we quickly decided who got what. I ended up with the black bike and Scott got the blue one. The fact that we had missed something so out of place and unexpected explained my father’s consternation. But this was quickly forgotten as we ran around screaming and laughing and inspecting our new ticket to boyhood freedom. Even though it was well after dark and cold, my dad rolled up the garage door and we took off riding our new bikes up and down the street where our parents could watch us ride and share in our excitement. My brother and I must have put a thousand miles on those bikes and had an equal number of adventures together, roaming around our little piece of the world.
I’m glad to say that we have had many happy Christmases before and since then, but that is the one that came to mind this evening some twenty years later. I hope that when I have kids that I can make their Christmas memories as half as good as my own.
A lovely Christmas story well told. I salute your plans to make Christmas memories for you children. I know you will do a marvalous job.
Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Hollis and Alice
Off the subject, I will be in Dallas this weekend (through Monday morning). My wife and I would enjoy seeing you. Email me and we can meet up.
Thank
Merry CHRIStmas
Thank you everyone and Merry Christmas!