It’s getting a little harder with each year I go back in time for my Memories of Christmas. I was pretty young during these holidays so I’m digging back into my memories as much as I can.
.
In 1977 I was in the 3rd grade. I love that I have a picture of the big buffet spread that my Mom made for my Dad’s company party (see yesterday’s post). She prepped for this for weeks and the food was always spectacular! I love her seventies style in her flowery caftan dress. I also think it is so cool that our very back wall is full of framed photos. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
I got a guitar that year for Christmas and I was really excited about that. I took lessons a few years later and could play some pretty good John Denver songs. Once I broke my pinky finger (see yesterday’s post) I never could hold down the strings tight enough with that finger and I really couldn’t’ do bar cords so my guitar playing sort of faded away over the years.
.
1976 was the Christmas of second grade. My Mom made me that dollhouse in the background. My Grandma is sitting at the dining room table and her hand looks like she is smoking a cigarette (which she did ALL the time). I know when she came to visit us she went outside to smoke, but I guess she must have smoked inside in her own home. I have never liked the smell of cigarette smoke and I used to quote the American Lung Society commercials to my Grandma in hopes of getting her to quit. She just couldn’t though and it ended up taking her life later on. I have never once been the least bit interested in smoking. I guess I can thank her for that.
The blue felt stocking by my legs was my stocking. I’m not sure if my Mom made them? Our stockings were cute though.
Annual Christmas Eve sleepover with my cousins Jeremy and Danny. Jeremy always slept with Snoopy. It looks like I have a stuffed Grover but I don’t remember owning that. I wonder if I borrowed it from Jeremy? I think I slept on the floor every Christmas Eve of my elementary school years. I was awake longer than my cousins, trying to listen for Santa. I was very disappointed when I overheard my Aunt loudly discussing logistics. Note to all adults, keep that type of conversation in your head on Christmas Eve!
.
The memories are getting hazy now. Hard to remember Christmas of 1975. I was six years old and probably very excited about Christmas. We had moved to a new house that year. It was the first home my parents owned. I don’t have any holiday photos from that year, so this is my school picture. No front teeth. I know we sang “All I want for Christmas is my 2 front teeth” at school.
.
I have more pictures from Christmas of 1974. It looks like I got quite a haul! I’m guessing that the giant dinosaur was a prize that my Dad won at work or something because I really can’t imagine my parents buying something like that. I love the Fisher Price castle in the background. I wish I had that now. And boy would I love to still have the Fisher Price Little People! Those were the best. They discontinued them later on because they were a choking hazard, but I wish they could have figured out a better alternative.
And yes, that is a Mrs. Beasley doll. Children of the 70s and toy collectors will remember her!
Here I am with my friend Julie who was my next-door neighbor at the time. We were friends from the beginning though as you will see tomorrow.
I know I was very excited about this chalkboard. I used to really want to be a teacher. Funny how that ended up working out!
.
The first year I really even have faint memories of Christmas was in 1973. I was only 4 years old so I barely remember any of it, but my Mom’s descriptions brought up some actual memories for me. Here’s what she told me:
We were in Farmington in 1973, having moved back that summer from California. It looks like we stayed home for Christmas, which really doesn't make sense, as my mother would have been demanding us to be in Pocatello. Maybe I stood my ground (unlikely), or maybe we went up after opening presents. I just don't remember. I remember that Jeff and Anna came down to see us. That is when they brought us the patchwork quilt that Anna had made. We still have it.
If you look closely at the tree, you will see the ice cream cone Christmas tree ornaments that we made in our little preschool that year. Also, note the picnic/dining room table in the background. I had bought, assembled and painted that while we were living in our apartment in Cupertino. I always thought it was kind of cool.
This post should have been titled “Those Seventies Holidays” – lol!
…
Want to play along? Where do you usually sleep on Christmas Eve? If you spend it at a relative’s house, do you sleep on the floor? Do you have pictures of the presents you received as a child? Are any of the toys you received collector's items now?
