Friday Five - Christmas Past

Pretty simple task from the RevGalBlogPals-  Tell us about five Christmas memories you have.

1,  My parents were divorced.  We didn't have a big family so we didn't have those big crazy get togethers.  One of my first memories that I have is telling my mother I wanted a certain doll and telling my father I wanted a different doll and I got both dolls.  Now they made a big thing of that like that was something sneaky I did to get two dolls.  But it never occurred to me they would get me the same present.  They didn't do anything else together why the hell should they get together to give me one present?  

2.  One more childhood Christmas story.  Because most of them were just not that memorable.  One year my mom decided instead of us staying home and feeling bad that we were alone on Christmas we should go to Disneyland.  On Christmas Day.  That was fun.

3.  Fast forward to my first Christmas in Wisconsin with my soon to be husband, Loren.  1985 I believe. I bought a little tree.  A real one.  I just bought some gold thread covered balls, gold lights and tied gold ribbons on it.  Loren gave me diamond earrings.  I don't remember what I gave him.    I did go to his family's house and had Ludefisk which I didn't think was so bad.  That night I threw up all night.  After midnight service we (well I) went ice skating on a pond in 17 below weather.   Loren watched from his truck.  He said it was the best Christmas he ever spent.

4.  Fast forward to several years later and Loren and I were married.  You had to hide presents from him because he would peak.  He would shake and guess.  I could never surprise him with a gift.  Then one year we were at a toy show and he saw a Ertl toy version of an Allis Chalmers tractor he actually had when he was younger.   We were dirt poor those days.  It was $30.  He could not justify paying $30 for a toy tractor.  

I took the guys card, called him the next day, had him mail me the tractor and told him it was a surprise.  When it came I put it in doll box and put that in another box and wrapped it.   THIS was the year I was going to surprise him for Christmas!

Well the box threw him but it just so happened he had called the guy later about the tractor and the guy who was usually very talkative said "It's sold" and hung up on him.  Based on that alone, Loren guess I bought for him.  But the box threw him off.  After that I gave up trying to surprise him.

5.  Our first Christmas after Loren died.  It was five months after he died.  I don't remember much about it other than it was not sad.  I think I spent a little too much on gifts and decorations trying to make up for it but mostly I decided I was going to be joyful about what I did have and I did.  I got the church youth group - mostly football players to get up on my roof and hang LOTS of lights around the house.  It was late in morning and my daughter Sarah remembers being scared to death looking outside her window and seeing a kid with a ski mask on her roof.  But what I remember is how much difference making up my mind to think about all the things I DID have and not what I'd lost made.  It was a lovely Christmas.