Who wrote memories of christmas9/4/2023 ![]() Gregory Schaefer, Melbourne Beach Christmas bef And most of all, Because of that night, I still believe in Santa Claus. We believe in Christmas spirit, we believe in small town strength, we believe in the power of community. I share it because that Christmas gave us something to believe in. I share this sad short story with you not to pity my son and I. It was the first time I saw my son come alive with true happiness. And, it was the first time I was able to find hope. That evening, the mayor called him to the stage, our friends and family from near and far swooped to the front of the stage, he hit the lights, and the town erupted in a wave of cheers. Also, I invited our family and friends from near and far to attend. Knowing of our circumstance, the commission agreed without hesitation. For my son’s first Christmas without his mother, unbeknownst to him, I decided to petition the commission of our small town - Melbourne Beach - to give my son the honor of “flipping the switch.” The tradition of turning on the lights at the annual tree lighting ceremony. All of the unimaginable becomes a harsh reality, especially for an eight-year-old boy. Three years ago, we lost the mother of my son and the keeper of my heart. It was 1949 and I was six years old.Ĭhristmas (and small town) help heal two broken hearts (He couldn’t read the name tags because the mask eye holes were small and misplaced!) As Santa was handing out the gifts, I looked down and recognized Papa’s boots! Then I recognized his voice! Well, it was all over. The adults sat around eating sweets and drinking liqueurs and high balls.Īfter some time, my aunt and my mother would usher all us kids into a back bedroom, where we sang Christmas carols while waiting for Santa to show up. When we heard a " BLAAAT" from a car horn announcing Santa’s arrival, we ran up front to greet Santa, who was Ho, ho, ho-ing! (Papa was a skinny Santa in a most pathetic suit, a grotesque mask and a ratty beard. How were we ever fooled?) After shaking the kids’ hands one by one, he began to hand out the gifts with the help of my mother. Presents for all the children were piled up around the big beautifully decorated tree, while we, kids, waited for Santa’s arrival. The whole extended family, including in-laws, plus friends and neighbors, gathered at my Aunt Marcelle’s house on Christmas Eve. Every Christmas eve, my grandfather, “Papa”, played an important role. The day was always filled with Love and I passed on these magical feelings to my own children.īorn and bred in New Orleans, during my early childhood, I lived in a double shotgun house next door to my maternal grandparents. This added to the magic as they made us believe we were great kids. They would also be loaded down with gifts for us kids along with a story about Santa dropping gifts off for us at their house. Later that day my grandparents would arrive. What mattered is that my parents always made it special for us. I no longer remember what we received because it no longer matters. My brother, sister and I would go down in our footsie pajamas to see what Santa delivered the night before. Dad always went down first to light the tree. When everyone was ready we headed downstairs to our basement. ![]() Like most other children we woke up our parents way too early. I eventually got tired and went to bed.Ĭhristmas morning is almost always magical for young kids. I can remember sneaking out of my room to check her progress when she wasn't looking. ![]() My mother would almost always make Christmas cookies on that special night. ![]() I remember being put to bed very early, but getting up to watch the snow plows come down our street. So when it started to snow I was very happy. At the time, I thought it was the rule that Santa needed snow to be able to deliver presents. My memory of this particular year started on Christmas eve. So Christmas almost always meant that it would be very cold. When I was very young my family lived in New Jersey. One of my fondest memories of Christmas happened when I was a young child. ![]()
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