Wednesday, December 19, 2001
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Wednesday, December 19, 2001 |
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Memories of Christmas past By MICHAEL
BOYLAN Thinking back on how my family celebrated Christmas while I was growing up, I wish to commend my parents for having an incredible amount of patience. From the minute the tree went up, my sister and I sang Christmas carols, pointed out every present we wanted during cartoons, and devoured Christmas cookies by the metric ton. There is probably still crystallized colored sugar between the cracks of the floor in our old house. My father would allow us to open one present a few days before Christmas to, as he put it, "make the holiday last longer." One year he placed a pair of Aerosmith tickets in several envelopes and boxes. Before I reached the tickets, I thought that my father was giving me a fire detector for Christmas and started to get upset. Christmas Eve was very big for my family. Each year we would head to my grandfather's house and meet up with the relatives. The adults would mingle together, most likely expressing sympathy for having to deal with their hyped up children all month, while the kids would run around and enjoy a night full of food, presents and fun. Each year we would all receive McDonald's gift certificates and digital watches from one of my uncles. Though it was great to have the watch, it was even better to be able to go to McDonald's and order and pay for food on your own. Christmas music blared throughout the house and eventually my cousins and I would wind our way through the clouds of perfume surrounding our aunts and find ourselves outside and caroling on the street. We would dutifully scan the skies for a trace of Rudolph and his sleigh, even when we had stopped believing. The party would end soon afterward with some of the younger children falling asleep on the living room couch. Though drowsy, I was amazingly alert when I got home and into bed. My thoughts would be racing as I would try to figure out how to fall asleep the fastest, so that I could be awake quickly. I would be listening for the faintest sound to wake me up at the crack of dawn. I would rush to my stocking, dump it out on the floor and go through my terrific bounty. After my parents woke up, an eternity later, my sister and I could open our gifts. We would then spend time with the other part of the family, repeating most of the previous night's activities. Unfortunately, I do not get to spend as much time with my extended family anymore. We, the children, have grown up. Many of us are now married and have started new holiday traditions with our ever-growing families. As Christmas approaches each year, I reflect fondly on those times. Each year I remember something new and hope that I can feel that warm and, heck, there is no other word for it, jolly again. Merry Christmas to you and yours, everybody.
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