President Fred invited us to share our most memorable Christmas and New Year's Eve stories. Fred remembered when he was young going to his grandmother's home in Mark, Texas near Waco. The house had no indoor plumbing and no heat! He said that they slept under many warm blankets.
Gloria shared that her mom had a different take on things: One year she left their Christmas tree up and changed the decorations with the seasons. One year she found 3 tumbleweeds and had the inspiration to spray paint them and add glitter! She sounds like an interesting person....
Stuart's dad was in the military and they lived in England and several states so their family wasn't always closeby. They enjoyed many Christmases with their small family. He said that he and his brother always looked to see where the gifts were hidden...
Gloria shared another memory: she and her brother always found their gifts prior to Christmas. One particular year her brother was going to receive a .22 gun and a portable radio and Gloria was to receive a record player. The gun went off and went through the radio and lodged into the record player! Her brother then said "Quick! Put them back!" to which Gloria replied, "They're gonna know..."
Marlene told us about one year she and her husband took down their own Christmas tree and loaded it into her husband's company Frito truck so they could take it and then put it back up for the family Christmas....
Joe said that one year he went to Seattle for Christmas just to see the snow - it didn't snow. However one of his children got hurt so he spent time in the ER....
Brett shared that he always set up his Lionel Train around the Christmas tree. In the background the Percy Faith Christmas Special played on their black and white TV....
Brett also shared that while at a masquerade ball in New York during the Y2K Millenium Crisis, he observed an SAPD sniper on the rooftop...
Ken D. shared that he grew up in New York and there was no shortage of snow. He remembers street vendors hawking their wares of fruits and vegetables and also vendors that sharpened knives...
Ken spent New Years Eve in Times Square and watched the ball drop...it wasn't as crowded with people then...
Brenda shared the time at the time of their oldest son's first Christmas they flew to Virginia to visit family. The family went out to eat and Brenda & Charles' son was doing his cute baby things and this man walked up to compliment them about their son.... the man's name was John Wayne....
Barry shared about the year he celebrated New Years Eve twice...once in New York and again in San Francisco! He was flying, returning home from Viet Nam...
Bil shared his first Christmas - ever - after he married Linda. Bil did not grown up celebrating Christmas and Linda did.
There were many more stories told - hope you enjoyed reading these - we celebrate everyone's memories! Thank you, everyone, for sharing with us!