Christmas memories make the holiday special

Every holiday brings back memories of days gone by. Sometimes, those memories can make you sad — thinking about people who are no longer there. Other times, those thoughts can make you want to do something better for your children. And sometimes, they just make you smile.

I am so lucky my memories of holidays are happy ones filled with toys, family and fun. My dad was a firefighter for the city and often worked on holidays. That’s when some of the real magic of Christmas happened for my brother Jeff, and me. There were years Santa didn’t come on Christmas Eve!

Sometimes, Santa knew our dad would have to be at the station on Christmas morning, and he came a day early. Or Mom would have to run an errand and leave us with our cousins, and when we got home, Santa had come while we were gone. It truly was amazing to us that Santa always knew and made sure to come when Dad could be with us to open presents.

Marybeth Slater, with Slater Family Farm Outreach, said one of her favorite memories is decorating their pony and cart with lights to make it look like a sleigh for the Christmas Magic in Lights event at the fairgrounds last year.

“We had so much fun trotting her around before the cars all came through and handing out stickers,” she said.

Cherie Reveal said, “When my brother and I were kids, we would help Mom decorate the Christmas tree in the living room. The tree was lit with blinking lights and placed in front of the big window that allowed us to look out onto out front porch. One year, while decorating the tree, we looked out to see a large buck on our front porch looking in the window watching us. It was very exciting to me as a little girl.”

Steve Grandstaff said he didn’t have many happy memories of Christmas as a child, but that only makes him try harder to do as much as he can to make happy memories for his son Wesley.

“Sometimes, our own experiences are motivators for change and the betterment of those after us,” Grandstaff said.

Wendy Haney agreed with Grandstaff.

“My favorite Christmas with Wesley was the year the community helped us out. My brother gave us a big kitchen playset, and two people from the community donated play food and dishes for it. And The Salvation Army came through with needed winter clothes. We’ve been blessed by strangers every year since,” Haney said.

Alissa Bartholow said her grandma loved Christmas and baked all kinds of cookies.

“My grandpa would dress as Santa, and all of us kids knew it was him and always yelled, ‘You aren’t Santa — you’re grandpa,’” Bartholow said.

For Jaedyn Allen, the magic of Christmas came from her mom, Tracy Jones. One year she and her sister Jordyn had to go on a scavenger hunt to find their big gift, which turned out to be a four-wheeler.

“One tradition Mom did each year was we would open one gift on Christmas Eve and it would be new PJ's for us to wear that night,” Allen said.

Another tradition for Allen is visiting the cemetery every Christmas Eve to light a candle for her dad and grandparents and to wish them a Merry Christmas. Allen also is carrying on traditions with her son Kohen.

“We would get a Christmas tree ornament that signified a special moment or favorite item of that year, like a car ornament when we got our license. Mom always made and continues to make the holiday so magical and special each year,” Allen said.

Debra Brill’s parents had a tradition to help remind their children the importance of doing good for others.

“Our mom would make a chart for Advent to track our good deeds. Dad built a wooden manger to place by the Christmas tree. Then, once a week, we would gather around the tree and Mom would give each of us a piece of straw for each good deed on our chart, and we would place them in the manger. On Christmas Eve we would wrap my favorite doll in a blanket and place this ‘Baby Jesus’ in the manger. If we had been kind and helpful during Advent, Baby Jesus would have a warm and cozy place to sleep,” Brill said.

We wish you all a Christmas that brings back happy memories and creates new ones you can look back on for years to come.