A Favorite Childhood Christmas Memory from 1972

Christmas for most children is a magical, wonderful time of the year. All of my friends have some special Christmas memory; maybe a special Christmas gift, seeing Santa Claus, spending fun time with the family, or waking up Christmas morning to find snow on the ground. My favorite Christmas story is about my Dad who meant the world to me and is missed very much. It was the most meaningful Christmas of my childhood, and I hope it brings back the innocence and beauty of childhood to you, if only for a little while.

My parents weren't rich people. They had to work hard to support four young children, but they always managed to keep food on the table, clothes on our backs, and shoes on our feet. We never wanted for love because we had plenty of that. Even though they didn't have a lot of money, they always made sure we had a wonderful Christmas. The Christmas of 1972 stands out in my mind more than any other as my favorite Christmas memory.

We lived in New Harmony, Indiana in two small trailers. That year we didn't have a Christmas tree because the trailers we lived in were to small. Of course being children that didn't dampen our spirits at all because we knew Santa would still come to see us. Christmas Eve we woke up early, excited because we only had one day left until Santa came to see us. But mom and dad told us that Santa was coming early that year, and he would be arriving that evening. They also told us that we had to stay in all day because it was to cold to play outside and that dad would be working on his truck.

We had breakfast and dad went outside to work on his truck, but I knew that was kind of strange because dad always had one of us older kids help him out and it was really cold out that Christmas Eve with a chance of snow. By the time I was eight I was starting to believe that my Dad and Mom were Santa Claus because I caught them wrapping gifts, but they always told me that they were helping Santa out by wrapping presents for him. Moms and Dads can be very sneaky. We stayed inside and played games all day. It was rough going because we were getting impatient and the only time Dad came in was for lunch.

When he did come in we asked him about a million questions about Santa and when he was coming. Poor Mom and Dad. We kept peeking out the windows, and then it started snowing which made it worse for Mom because we started asking if we could go out to play in the snow. We couldn't of course, but we were soon to find out why. About five in the evening Dad came in and told us that Santa had brought our presents, and that we should bundle up because it was still snowing and very cold. Mom and Dad got our coats, gloves, and hats on, we headed out the door and were we ever surprised by what we saw. There were four brand new bicycles just the right size for each of us. To us they were the most beautiful bicycles in the world.

That was the best Christmas ever. We got brand new bicycles and we rode them in the snow underneath the streetlights. It was a beautiful night and we felt like the luckiest kids in the world. The neighbors even came out to watch us ride our new bikes; it was a very special Christmas that year even though it was a day early. I knew in my heart that my Dad had spent the whole day out there in the cold and snow putting all four of those bicycles together for us. I felt like I had the best Dad in the world. He loved us so much that he didn't care if he got frostbite; we were more important to him than anything else in the world, and I've never forgotten that. This favorite Christmas memory is dedicated to my Dad. I hope everyone has a favorite Christmas memory that is shared each and every year. Merry Christmas!