15 Memories

Christmas has been on my mind a lot lately, since I found out I am going home and after watching Elf the other night with my family, I wrote a list of my 15 best Christmas Memories...

15. Danielle Manfred and I were some crazy girls. We always came up with the most ridiculous ideas but the Christmas of eighth grade may have topped them all. With the permission of the principal and the help of a few other friends, we dressed up as Santa (yeah that was me), elves, and reindeer. We visited all the other classrooms handing out candycanes and wishing everyone a merry christmas. Come to think of it, perhaps it was wearing that big white beard that triggered my obsession with wearing artificial facial hair.

14. I awoke with a start in the middle of one Christmas Eve night. In the doorway to my room was what appeared to be part of Santa´s coat. It was not moving but I only had to take one look at it to realize that I could ruin my chances of getting any presents. It was a torturous night with little sleep, only to realize in the morning that what I had seen was part of a decoration. I will always remember that night because I was really scared Santa would put me on the naughty list for being awake in bed.

13. Bridget, of course, had decorated her tree with pink and purple ornaments. It was sophmore year and Bridget was still living in the magical Alden Park Apartment Complex. There was something so serene about that night with all the candles lit, a fire in the fireplace, and the smell of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. We watched a movie and giggled about ¨elevator boy¨but it was no ordinary night. It was the first night that I began to feel at home in Philadelphia.

12. Tara and I ran into the living room at the crack of dawn and there it was... our first set of wheels. A shiny red jeep wrangler with a huge eagle decal across the hood. It wasn´t your average ¨Barbie Dreamcar¨ but we weren´t your average little girls. Man we loved driving that thing around- I think we felt like it gave us some kind of freedom, even though it never left the backyard and our mom always made us wear helmets.

11. I don´t think we will ever get tired of watching a helicopter lift baby Jesus from the manger scene. Mr. Bean´s Christmas is a much loved tradition at Mommom and Grumps´house. I´m not sure what I would do if we stopped watching it, even though I know that movie like the back of my hand.

10. I was in such a rush that I didn´t even have time to drink some of the ¨Mel´s magical punch¨before I was shoved up the the kareoke machine. Of course, I still had to put on a great show and I pretty much blew all my beloved coworkers away with my rendition of Janis Joplin´s Piece of My Heart. Since every other year I was still at college, this was the one and only Haag´s Christmas Party that I ever made it to. That place and those people will always have a ¨piece of my heart¨. Sorry that was corny, I know.

9. In front of me sits a plate with a giant beligian waffle topped with mounds of delicious strawberries and whipped cream. I am sitting around a table at Arner´s surrounded by a group of my most ¨fabulous¨friends (Tara, Jamie, Felicia, and Susan). Christmas Eve breakfast with the five is becoming a much cherished tradition.

8. At first, it seemed like this day would go down in history as one of my least favorite, although I had gotten my wish for a white Christmas. It snowed so much on Christmas Eve that we were unable to drive to Aunt Heather´s house for lunch and the electricity had gone out. We ended up spending a quiet day at home huddled around the woodstove listening to Dad´s jazz tapes. Normally, this drives me insane but now I can look at it as quality time I may never again have with my amazing family.

7. The Pagoda always flashes to signify that Santa has been spotted flying over Reading, Pennsylvania. Every Christmas Eve Tara, JD, Katie, Aunt Rose, and I set out to catch a glimpse of the once-a-year phenomenon. One very exciting year, we made a pitstop in the WalMart parking lot where Aunt Rose let me drive her car for the first time. My mom never found out (until now when she reads this blog, of course). I guess that was part of the excitement, too.

6. I am so lucky that my house only lies 10 minutes from the most amazing Christmas display in the world... that´s right, Christmas Village is right there in my backyard. It´s actually quite a site to behold; thousands and thousands of lights and figurines, scenes of Santa in the jungle and a peacock in a cage. We didn´t go every year because my family didn´t really have the money for it but we used to drive up over the hill to look at the lights from above (which is actually the best view of it). Anyway, there is one particular year that I remember going. It was such a long time ago that it is hard to remember details but, if I´m right, I went with my sister and my dad because my mom was feeling sick. I was awestruck and I remember buying an ornament as a surprise for my mom. It was moments like that that make me realize how lucky we were to have such a great dad.

5. I finally had evidence that Santa was real. Every year we put out milk and cookies but one year we should include something for Rudolph. That night we left a carrot on the table, too and we awoke to find a half eatten carrot in front of the house. I really do miss the magic in believing.

4. For our first time going to New York City, Nanny and Grandad sure did it right. It was the perfect time of year to visit the city (right before Christmas). We slept in a fancy old hotel, took a carriage ride through Central Park, went ice skating in Rockefeller Center, and visited FAO Schwartz (the world´s largest toy store). We even saw Cats on Broadway. I will remember that trip for the rest of my life.

3. If you have never played Now You Have It, Now You Don´t, you do not know what you are missing. Throughout the year, Mommom collects enough random objects for my entire crazy family to play about three hilarious games. There is nothing like watching Grumps and Walt fight over a pair of women´s dress socks or Mom and Taylor arguing about who has a better use for pot holders. Gosh do I have a great family or what!?

2. Some may wonder why this memory is all the way here at number 2. Compared to others, it sounds relatively insignificant but it warms my heart to think about it. I can remember my mom turning on the old radio (which was also a record player) and tuning it until we could hear Paul Harvey´s voice. Tara and I were trembling with excitement that Christmas Eve night as he announced that Santa had been spotted flying over Reading. It felt so real!!

1. We were all under the impression that it was going to be the last Christmas in that house, which put a little bit of a damper on the mood. Just as we thought all of the presents had been openned, Grandad came out holding three small boxes. He then began to explain that, before Nanny died, they had planned that one Christmas Grandad would give each of the grandaughters a ring. Each ring had a story behind it (because these were the very same rings that we used to take out of Nanny´s desk drawer and admire when we were younger) and they had a reason for deciding why each of us got the ring we did. Of course we were all in tears by the end of the night. Part of my ring actually belonged to my great-grandmother and Nanny had it altered. It was a gorgeous antique diamond ring and, regardless of the value (which I am sure is very great), it is the best Christmas present I have ever gotten.