Christmas with My Dad Half Way Around the World

Many years ago when I was a small child my father served in the United States navy. It was typical for him to be gone for long periods of time, but I had gotten used to it. He was always home for the holidays most times, but this particular year he wouldn't be. I can remember the morning he left out. It was very early that morning around four in the morning. He sat with my brother and I in our bedroom telling us he loved us both very much and that he would miss us both while he was gone. We knew he would be gone for some time, but my mother had told us the day before he wouldn't be home for Christmas that year. My brother and I understood what my father did for a living, and we knew he was very important. Before he left that morning he asked us both what we wanted Santa Claus to bring us that year at Christmas. Christmas was months away. My brother and I had no Idea what we wanted. Neither of us had really thought about it, but quickly we told my father many things we wanted. After all we were kids. We always wanted cool toys! Soon my father set out, and that was the last we saw my father for some time.

As the months passes and Christmas got closer and closer, our excitement grew more and more. We were both very excited yet we both also knew our dad wouldn't be there that morning to see what Santa had brought us. We missed him a lot. We would get letters from our dad as he would write us often. We would write him too. We even wrote him about what else we wanted Santa to bring us.

Before we knew it it was Christmas Eve. My brother and I were ecstatic. There was no way we could go to sleep that night, but we knew we had to or Santa wouldn't come! We tried to go to sleep yet we couldn't. We stayed up most of the night, but finally fell asleep late that night. When we awoke that morning we knew not to go downstairs before waking mom up. So we did. I looked at the clock and it was six in the morning! My mom didn't mind, and we took off downstairs in a rush. When we got downstairs our mouths dropped. The entire living room was full of gifts. Everything we asked for lay on the floor. My brother and I were so surprised! I was so happy!

My mom asked me if I got everything I wanted and I said "yes, well almost everything." I quickly remembered that I asked mom before if Santa could let me talk to my dad Christmas morning. My mom told me that Christmas wasn't over yet. As lunchtime came around my brother and I were enjoying all our new gifts. My mom told my brother and I to get dressed. We had somewhere to go. So we did. We got into our car and my mom told me we had somewhere to be at one o' clock on the dot. We couldn't be late. We pulled up to this house. Nothing special about it. I knew it was a friend of my dad's. We went to the door and a lady opened the door and let us in. My mom walked in to the backroom. She told us to wait in the living room. A few minutes had passed and then my mother called for my brother and I. I can remember clearly as I walked into the room. I could hear my dad! The man was operating a HAM radio. My brother and I started talking to my dad. We told him everything we got for Christmas. I was very happy. Even though he was far away, I felt like he was right there with me. My dad asked me if I got everything I wanted, and I told him Santa brought me everything I asked for. This is my most memorable Christmas ever.