What is it about Christmastime that stirs
up memories? It takes only a simple everyday happening to trigger a wonderful
long-ago mind picture!
For instance, this evening, when I made a cup of
coffee in my Keurig, I watched, biting my lip, as the coffee kept coming until
it was even with the rim of the cup. I was prepared to clean up the mess it was
bound to make, but, lucky for me, it stopped just in time.
Instant flashback: my dad sitting at my
kitchen table while I poured him a cup of coffee. When I stopped pouring, he
pushed the cup toward me and said, “Give me a
cup of coffee!” I laughed and finished filling it to the top of the cup. It
was a pet-peeve – people who gave him three-quarters of a cup of coffee.
Remembering that led me to other memories of him
that are just as sweet.
When I was a little girl, many stores had
candy counters where they sold loose candy by the pound. They’d weigh out the
amount you wanted, put it in a bag and charge you accordingly.
Every Christmas Eve morning, as far back as
I can remember, Daddy would get up early, have breakfast and head out to do
some shopping. When he returned a few hours later, he not only had some secret
purchases, which he immediately hid, but he also had a large white bag. I
always knew what was in it and watched intently as he took individual white
bags out of the large one. One contained chocolate drops, (remember those?)
another, chocolate covered peanuts, which I loved, and yet another had assorted
hard candy. There were candy canes, cinnamon drops, and thick chunks of fudge.
Even though my mother always made fudge, it was part of his tradition to buy it
too. He also delivered bags of candy to some less-fortunate children in the
area. He was a kind man.
Even though he’s been gone for many years, much
of my life still revolves around recollections of him.
At
Christmastime, whenever I feel overwhelmed and a little out of sorts, as we
all do at times, all I have to do is think of my father and the things he'd be doing if he were here – and I smile. Quote found here.
5 comments:
Oh, Peggy, this is so sweet! Memories do seem to return at Christmas, don't they? Great post.
Wonderful story. It's easy to see how much you loved your dad. Sounds like he earned it.
We always had chololate drops for christmas.
Love this. I remember buying candy by the pound like that. Those were the good old days! Wonderful post, Peg!
As always, great storytelling from you. Memories of good times...
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