Christmas Memories

This was written for my grandchildren, but you are welcome to read it, too. Here are some of the things that I remember about the 70 Christmas seasons that I have experienced ... I remember, when I was very young, Christmas trees in New Cumberland, sometimes with my dad's Lionel trains running underneath them - I still set up his train underneath our Christmas trees today and they still run, even though they are nearly 90 years old ... I remember Pappy Wise's silver metal tree with blue balls and his homemade white fences that he placed around the tree platform ... I remember trips to Grandma Wolf's house in Bethlehem on Christmas Eve, always looking to see who could first spot the lighted PPL building in Allentown. I remember her making barbecue for the carolers who always returned to the parsonage and ate and played ping pong in the basement ... I can remember playing with Uncle Bob Smock's train and the fun of all the family gathered there on Christmas morning ... I always looked forward to the box of chocolate covered raisins that would be in my stocking ... I remember in Lancaster the elaborate displays in the windows at Watt&Shand and going to see the large train display upstairs at Farmer's Supply. Those were exciting adventures ... As a youngster, each Christmas I sang in a trio at church with Bob Minniig and Dan Sheffy. We sang "We Three Kings" and I always had the verse about frankincense as a solo ... At home, in Lititz, my dad made two four foot high candles which were placed outside at the front door every year. We decorated the stair railings to the second floor to look like candy canes and we strung all of our Christmas cards on strings which hung in the dining room from the center light to the windows ... Growing up in Lititz, I remember going to the Lititz Movie Theater, which no longer exists, for Christmas cartoons. Then Santa would come and we kids would all get a gift - an orange. In those days that was a treasure ... At home we always set up a big train display in the basement, complete with loads of Plasticville buildings, mountains, and grass ... I remember caroling with the church, using a truck filled with straw. A few years later I enjoyed caroling with friends in Sunbury ... I remember after we were married, with two small children, making a very difficult trip in the snow to Sunbury on Christmas Eve. I was released from the hospital just hours before and Dianne had to drive. I was so sick the whole way there. But we made it ... I can remember Gramps showing the movie "The Night Before Christmas" and teasing our boys about the sleigh bells ringing outside ... I remember Christmas days in Sunbury, in the morning with Gramps and Muz, at noon with the Wolf family at the parsonage, in the afternoon visiting the Wise family ... years later, after the Wolfs retired, it was a morning trip to Ephrata to be with the Wolf family and then an afternoon trip to Sunbury to be with the Bickles - oh how I miss those days and all the family members who are no longer here ... And how could I ever forget the togetherness in the Lord with the Wolf family as we harmonized to sing "We Thank Thee Lord for This Our Food", as our prayer, before the meal. Precious memories. We have continued that tradition whenever our immediate family is together for a meal ... Then there was the year we had a flat tire on a busy highway near Harrisburg. We were coming home from Sunbury with our car loaded with luggage and gifts ... I recall decorating my classrooms with artificial pine around then chalkboards and red balls hanging from the pine. I used red and green chalk the week before Christmas and taught my classes dressed as Santa Claus on the last day before the break. I always had a small Christmas tree in my office ... I treasure the Christmas Eves that we have been able to celebrate together with our immediate family. First we'd go to the Christmas Eve service, which I usually planned and directed. Dianne and I usually sang duets and several times our family sang or the boys played the cowbells. Then we'd return home for Dianne's buffet. Next we'd gather around the tree for the Christmas story from Luke and prayer, then came the Christmas gifts. After Grandma Kauffman died, Grandpa Kauffman always came to be with us that night. This was only the second year he wasn't there, and we missed him ... For a few years we went to Selinsgrove on Christmas and took Gramps and Gloria to an area church for dinner. We had a good meal and we didn't even have to prepare it. What a nice ministry by that church.. Now that the Christmas reunions are gone and we've freed our boys to develop their own family traditions on Christmas day, Dianne and I have learned to enjoy the quietness of being alone together that day. And please don't feel bad for us, our boys often invite us to come to their house. But, sometimes a day of peace and quiet is just what we really need. A few years ago we had a big snowstorm and we enjoyed sitting together, in front of the fire, watching the snow fall and build up on our huge pine trees in our backyard. That was a spectacular sight. ... but another Christmas is over. I love the Christmas season. And I already miss the Christmas music. And far too soon for me, the tree will come down and the decorations will be packed away once again. That's another reminder of how fast time goes and how quickly the years pass by. But we still have the memories. So develop those traditions and hang on to those memories. They are so important.