CHRISTMAS MEMORIES

Just got back from a scooter ride on my 'Ferguson, and did some thinking while i was rumbling around town...decided to relay some of the Christmas memories I have experienced over the last 50+ years of my life...

-singing in the little kids choir in the old Goessel Church with the big wooden stage, forgeting my "piece" that i had memorized, and pounding my head with my fist to dislodge the words!

-playing Walter Cronkite in our school Christmas program (i was the main character), and at the end saying his famous line..."and thats' the way it is, December 25, 1968...goodnite!"

-my older brother Rod & I getting this HUGE 2 train set for Christmas (we crapped our pants!) complete with a layout board that Dad built in the basement completely without us knowing!

-getting a brand new Schwinn StingRay bike with ape hangers and a rear slick tire one year (an old man had won the bike at the local credit union Christmas meeting...Dad went and bought the bike from him)

-opening up a box under the tree and finding inside a beautiful green SK Wayne toolbox with my name printed on the top, and inside finding a couple of SK Wayne screwdrivers

-always going out the week or 2 after Thanksgiving and picking out a real Christmas tree(no one had artificial trees) and the tedious job of putting on the tinsel( and taking it off afterward)

-going to all the obscure Christmas gatherings of people i had no idea of who they were(Funk, Reimer, Duerksen sides of the family), eating fabulous carry-in food, and making the best of the aftenoon trying to play with kids i didn't know!

-going Christmas caroling with all the 3 local church youth groups (Goessel, Alexanderwohl, and Tabor) just because it was the thing to do (and you got to cuddle up real close to the girl you'd asked to go along...i had several, one of which ended up being my wife!)

-finishing up my freshman finals at K-State, then driving home in the snow for a wonderfully long Christmas break (of which i spent most of the time with my sexy, delicious girlfriend-Nancy)

-the hassle of making 3 gatherings on Nancy's side and 3 on my side while trying to keep our sanity intact while dragging along 2 little kids

-the fun we had shopping for toys for our kids...always had a hard time figuring out what to buy a girl, especially as Gina got older!!!

-the wonderfully LARGE bonuses that we gave us/our employees at Mid Kansas Propane...I always made sure to buy something very nice with the $$$ and not pay bills/buy food with it

-learning to wrap Christmas presents expertly when I worked at Grabers (there we days that i'll bet i wrapped 20-25 presents, some of very weird shapes).

-the time that I was unemployed for a year and received a Christmas box from the Salvation Army...what a humbling experience. This year I resolved to NEVER pass a Salvation Army bucket without dropping in a buck, or at least some change...and have rang the bell for several years.

which brings me to this year...I am the happiest that I have been in many years this Christmas. Maybe because for the first time in many years I have a job I enjoy, maybe 'cause I have had the $ and the inspiration to buy gifts this year, maybe 'cause I have been so blessed this year...don't know exactly why. I do know we are going to make some new memories this year...the first year with a grandchild. So...Merry Christmas!