Hi Everyone,
My family was sitting here remembering our childhood Christmases and the
gifts they received. My husband mentioned that his entire family got "put
together--electronic things EVERY Christmas and if they wanted to listen to a
radio [it was put together from scratch--every piece sodered and every piece put
exactly where it belonged] His brother,Mike got a Ham Radio one year and that
also had to be completely assembled! Can you imagine our kids or grandchildren
having to do that? There were five boys and one girl in his family and the
girl had to do the same things at Christmas time. They had to go out and work
and save money for thier extra wants and Everett cleaned up the seating
arrangements at Wrigley field in Chicago,Illinois many a time so he could get a
pass to the next game! He's still a CUB Fan

In our family there were so many of us my parents concentrated mostly to
get extra treats in the house for us that we usually didn't see much during the
year [like apples,nuts,candy,oranges and any other fruit they could afford]
After that they along with "Santas" help got each of us some much needed
clothing,shoes,or school supplies. Very seldom did we get large presents and
never saw a train,motorized toys,or game boys-or any type of electronics really.
We didn't have a TV in the house nor did we have a computer,running water,or
furnaces-- We heated with a old cook stove [that we had to chop wood for and
keep in the house always] and later went to oil burners. Had a well and a
cistern pump outdoors that operated manually for our water and had outside
bathrooms that were very cold in the winter to run to and scary at nights!!
We each made something homemade for our parents and the name we drew at school
and at church. We later started drawing names for homemade gifts for each other.
My mother baked alot and made lots of fudge and candies and us girls soon
learned how to do all of that!
We never went out and bought a turkey or chicken or any type of beef or pork as
we raised them and learned at a very young age how to care for them--kill them
and clean them for our holiday or Sunday meals. We made our own butter,seperated
our own milk,made cottage cheese and the list just goes on and on!! IF any of
you were raised on a farm --you know all about farm life. We knew what
Christmas was all about and grew up loved.

If you would like to share your Christmas memories -please feel free to do
so.
Hugs And Prayers
Doralea'

" Words cannot describe the sense of Spiritual awareness
that we receive when we have given something,no matter
how small,to another person"

Amazingly enough,the smallest contribution can make the biggest difference.
To gain more from life than the ordinary,plodding existence requires very little
effort on our parts.
We ourselves are transformed by the deep satisfaction we experience when we lift
the spirits of just one person.
When we smile at someone who is frowning,when we let someone in front of us on
the freeway,when we call a newcomer
just to say we care,we enter the realm of the extraordinary.




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