Christmas Memories
Well, boys! Today I imagine you will be in South Carolina with your grandparents there. I'm not sure if you will see this post on Friday since it's actually Christmas, but sooner or later you will. I was very glad to hear that you would be able to travel and be with family for the holidays. Today I'm going to share some memories that Uncle Byron and I have from childhood Christmases of years ago.
Uncle Byron remembers his Grandma Sternburg (his father's mother) flying up from Georgia for Christmases. They would go to the airport in Greensboro to pick her up. Uncle Byron's sister, Waulene Fay, and he were the only grandchildren. Although Grandma Sternburg gave several small gifts for both children each year, she had a policy of giving one a large gift one year and the other one the next. Uncle Byron remembers when he got a shot gun one year and and a rifle on another. He said that he recalled Aunt Fay getting a nice winter coat one year.
Uncle Byron also told me about a fancy Christmas tree got one year from a lady who had been in the Army with Granny. The lady's name was Geraldine Rikard. I've been to her house in Gastonia NC a few times. One year she gave the family a silver chrome tree with red balls and rotating light that would make the tree look like different colors. At first Uncle Byron said he thought it was really neat, but later he remembers thinking that the trees they would cut themselves from down in the woods were a lot better.
Sometimes for Christmas dinner all the family went down to the house of one of Granny's three brothers named Uncle Earl. Every kid got a small gift. Uncle Byron remembers getting the head with magnetic shavings. He said he had a special wand to catch the shavings and make moustaches and pictures on the head. The year he remembers the head he said his cousin Valerie cried and cried because they couldn't find a gift with her name on it. Seems the gift might have gotten picked up with wrapping paper and thrown in the fire, but nobody really knew.
Do you remember the house where you visited us in North Carolina this summer? That house belonged to Uncle Byron's Grandma Dehart. Going in Grandma Dehart's front living room was never allowed. But he remembers that on Christmas Day she would build a fire in the old woodstove in that room and open her gifts in there. He said that almost everyone gave her boxes or tins of candy because no one knew what else to get her. He also remembers that she never ate the candy. Sounds a lot like Granny Atha of today!
Some of my best Christmas memories also have to do with my Grandma's. I can remember going down to Virginia before we moved to live there and staying at my Grandma Beckner's house. It's the big house before you get to your Grandma Beckner's house. One year when we went I remember all the snow that fell and we had to stay longer than we had planned. Mostly I remember all the fun we had playing in the old rooms and wandering around the barns outside. I don't remember what presents I would have gotten that year but I thought the house was special.
After we moved to Virginia I can remember some crazy Christmases when we traveled back to Baltimore for Christmas with all of our city cousins. One year Grandad and Grandma (my Mom and Dad) forgot all our presents at home. All of our uncles there worked at A&P Grocery Stores. They opened up one of their stores late at night and scuffled around to get presents for us to have some things to open up. It turned out to be a great year for gifts since we ended up with double presents. That year I remember getting a special jade stick pin and some nice stuffed animals. We always had lots of fun with all of our cousins and there was always lots of food and football.
When I was really little and we still lived in Baltimore I remember going to one of my cousin's houses and Santa Claus showed up. I wasn't so sure that he was the real thing, because he was a little short, but he did have a sack full of toys! Later I found out that it was an uncle of some of my cousin's named Johnny Payne! We would have lots of fun with all the cousins playing with our new toys. The best gift that any of us every got was the year one of the cousins got one of the first ever tv video games called an Atari. We must have played video ping pong for hours!
Most of our Christmases in Brazil are spent with missionary aunts and uncles. This year will seem rather quiet in our house with just Greyson, but for Christmas dinner on Friday we will be with Tim and Vicki Reiner in Petrolina and Bruce and Carol Dennis who work on the other side of our big lake. We might even do something with some friends.
I hope all of you have a great time on Sunday in Virginia and that you will get to see Dalton and William and maybe even Granny Atha!
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| Grandaddy's house in Virginia, maybe 1988 or 1989 |
Uncle Byron remembers his Grandma Sternburg (his father's mother) flying up from Georgia for Christmases. They would go to the airport in Greensboro to pick her up. Uncle Byron's sister, Waulene Fay, and he were the only grandchildren. Although Grandma Sternburg gave several small gifts for both children each year, she had a policy of giving one a large gift one year and the other one the next. Uncle Byron remembers when he got a shot gun one year and and a rifle on another. He said that he recalled Aunt Fay getting a nice winter coat one year.
Uncle Byron also told me about a fancy Christmas tree got one year from a lady who had been in the Army with Granny. The lady's name was Geraldine Rikard. I've been to her house in Gastonia NC a few times. One year she gave the family a silver chrome tree with red balls and rotating light that would make the tree look like different colors. At first Uncle Byron said he thought it was really neat, but later he remembers thinking that the trees they would cut themselves from down in the woods were a lot better.
Sometimes for Christmas dinner all the family went down to the house of one of Granny's three brothers named Uncle Earl. Every kid got a small gift. Uncle Byron remembers getting the head with magnetic shavings. He said he had a special wand to catch the shavings and make moustaches and pictures on the head. The year he remembers the head he said his cousin Valerie cried and cried because they couldn't find a gift with her name on it. Seems the gift might have gotten picked up with wrapping paper and thrown in the fire, but nobody really knew.
Do you remember the house where you visited us in North Carolina this summer? That house belonged to Uncle Byron's Grandma Dehart. Going in Grandma Dehart's front living room was never allowed. But he remembers that on Christmas Day she would build a fire in the old woodstove in that room and open her gifts in there. He said that almost everyone gave her boxes or tins of candy because no one knew what else to get her. He also remembers that she never ate the candy. Sounds a lot like Granny Atha of today!
Some of my best Christmas memories also have to do with my Grandma's. I can remember going down to Virginia before we moved to live there and staying at my Grandma Beckner's house. It's the big house before you get to your Grandma Beckner's house. One year when we went I remember all the snow that fell and we had to stay longer than we had planned. Mostly I remember all the fun we had playing in the old rooms and wandering around the barns outside. I don't remember what presents I would have gotten that year but I thought the house was special.
After we moved to Virginia I can remember some crazy Christmases when we traveled back to Baltimore for Christmas with all of our city cousins. One year Grandad and Grandma (my Mom and Dad) forgot all our presents at home. All of our uncles there worked at A&P Grocery Stores. They opened up one of their stores late at night and scuffled around to get presents for us to have some things to open up. It turned out to be a great year for gifts since we ended up with double presents. That year I remember getting a special jade stick pin and some nice stuffed animals. We always had lots of fun with all of our cousins and there was always lots of food and football.
When I was really little and we still lived in Baltimore I remember going to one of my cousin's houses and Santa Claus showed up. I wasn't so sure that he was the real thing, because he was a little short, but he did have a sack full of toys! Later I found out that it was an uncle of some of my cousin's named Johnny Payne! We would have lots of fun with all the cousins playing with our new toys. The best gift that any of us every got was the year one of the cousins got one of the first ever tv video games called an Atari. We must have played video ping pong for hours!
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| Petrolina, 2014 |
Most of our Christmases in Brazil are spent with missionary aunts and uncles. This year will seem rather quiet in our house with just Greyson, but for Christmas dinner on Friday we will be with Tim and Vicki Reiner in Petrolina and Bruce and Carol Dennis who work on the other side of our big lake. We might even do something with some friends.
Our tree doesn't have a big cache of gifts this year,
but we have full hearts of all the blessings of 2015.
I hope all of you have a great time on Sunday in Virginia and that you will get to see Dalton and William and maybe even Granny Atha!
Merry Christmas!
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