Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2016
BARROW NEWS-JOURNAL
PAGE 5A
Christmas memories
About Christmas
Christmas is a time for making
memories.
My Christmas memories fill
more bags than Santa could ever
load into one sleigh.
As children, Christmas began
with the arrival of the Sears and
Roebuck Catalog and its toy sec
tion which mysteriously appeared
lying around the house in early
November.
There were pages of nothing
but color photographs of every
toy imaginable.
Once the catalog arrived, the weeks to
Christmas seemed to turn into months.
Time simply stood still with the anticipa
tion of Christmas.
The catalog was Santa’s Workshop
dream book. Roy Rogers toy cap guns
with leather holsters, Tinker Toys, bicy
cles, dolls, doll houses and accessories,
games, toy trucks, steam shovels, toy
soldiers, Lincoln Logs, Sky King figures
and even his airplane.
There were hundreds and hundreds of
Christmas toys.
The first reading of the great Christmas
toy book was overwhelming. We would
look page by page, at every toy, too
enthralled to even think about making a
list for Santa.
After several days of looking and
dreaming, my brother and I would begin
making our lists, not necessarily one of
everything but certainly a list of many
things.
We figured out early on if we didn’t ask
for the same things, we might get more.
We would worry about sharing them later.
Mother would then come to Santa’s
rescue, as well as the other children of
the world.
“Don’t be selfish,’’ she would tell us.
“Other boys and girls and girls want
something for Christmas, too.”
And so began the paring down of the
list.
The next event that magically brought
Christmas closer was the end of the
school year and writing a letter to Santa
Claus listing our wants (and sometimes
our needs).
To confirm this, we could tune into
WLAG AM LaGrange and listen for
Santa updates and messages from Santa
about being “good boys and girls.”
He would give weekly updates list
ing those children from whom he had
received letters.
The next 10 to 14 days were very long
days, even without school.
A cloudy day would bring excitement
and we would run to our parents and ask
if it was going to snow.
We hoped for snow every year but
nary a snowflake ever fell on LaGrange
during the days preceding Christmas or
on Christmas day.
The weeks before Christmas were, just
as they remain today — magical.
Visits to my grandmother, Mother Mae,
would find her picking pecans, making
fudge and watching the weather for the
right day to make divinity.
The final nights before
Christmas Eve were as long as
forever. As children, we knew
nothing about the winter sol
stice and tilting of the earth’s
axis.
We were told longer nights
were to give Santa more time
to get around the world in the
sleigh.
Christmas Eve was always a
special time at our house.
Late in the afternoon we
would exchange gifts with our friends and
then return home with anticipation and
hopes that Mother’s rule of waiting until
Christmas Day to open would not apply.
She never budged.
Christmas presents were to be opened
on Christmas Day, not before.
We could touch and shake, but never
open.
Following Christmas Eve supper, we
would go into the living room and read
the Christmas Story from Dad’s huge
Masonic Bible. During the holidays, it
was always displayed on the coffee table
and opened to chapter 2 of the Book of
Luke. I remember waiting for years to be
able to be old enough to take my turn in
reading the verses.
We sang “Silent Night,” and then read
“Twas The Night Before Christmas,” fin
ishing around 9 p.m.
It was then my brother and I began the
long vigil, waiting for morning, and wait
ing for the sound of any suspect noises on
the roof before drifting off to sleep.
Christmas mornings began early.
I don’t ever recall a bad Christmas, even
when the gifts didn’t match up with my
want lists. Christmas was, and remains, a
time of celebration, a time of family and
friends.
Our families are now grown but we
have kept alive the memories of previous
Christmases as we share old and new
traditions.
It brings warmth into the heart to see
family traditions being kept alive as they
pass to younger hands.
Some things have changed. I no longer
have to get up at 3 a.m. to meet Santa at
the door.
We don’t spend hours trying to put a
bicycle together and we, sometimes, drink
our coffee before everyone comes down
stairs to the tree.
Christmases have shaped our lives and
our lives have shaped our Christmases.
Each Christmas has brought us love, hope
and faith, wrapped in the joy of giving.
The best thing about Christmas? It’s the
Christmas Story and the shared moments,
no matter how bad or how good the times.
The holidays are for sharing with family,
friends, even with strangers.
And, that’s the way it should be.
Merry Christmas to all!
Jimmy Terrell is a retired law enforce
ment official. He can be reached at ejter-
rell@gmail.com.
The Christmas season is chocked full
of memories and fun vignettes which
often bring about humility and
reverence; and do we ever need
more of that in our fractured
world?
The following has nothing to
do with the aforementioned, but
have you ever wondered what
Vladimir Putin is getting for
Christmas? Does he even cele
brate Christmas?
How does one shop for the
President-elect? Does anybody
care? What do sitting Presidents
give the White House staff?
Do the FOX girls send Christ
mas cards to Rupert Murdoch?
Does Ted Turner eat bison for Christ
mas dinner?
Does Dolly Parton spend Christmas
in the kitchen?
Does Hillary Clinton email Christ
mas cards?
We are keenly aware this time of the
year that so many get so much; then we
are sobered with the knowledge that
some don’t get enough.
Like not enough to eat which is why
it is the Christmas wish here that the
many who do for others at Christmas
will experience the most enjoyable hol
iday of all.
They deserve it.
Everybody from the food banks to
the Salvation Army to cheerful individ
uals who give of themselves during the
Christmas season so that shut-ins, the
have-nots and those down on their luck
are not forgotten.
When I recall the Christmases of the
past, the ones that are the most mem
orable have to do with children and
grandchildren in the days when they
were young and tender-hearted and
wore footed pajamas.
Little feet thumping across the floor
to see what Santa has left is one of the
most treasured of memories.
Little feet hold sway at Christmas,
accompanied by innocence and mod
esty.
The pure delight in seeing pack
ages ripped apart, ribbons recklessly
detached and paper assaulted with a
fury of anxiousness and curiosity —
with a robust fire as the backdrop for
Christmas morning! A memory ever
lasting.
The scene is repeated when grand
children come along.
Life is good when children enjoy
themselves.
Happiness is a happy family at
Christmas.
Some sentimental favorites of every
Christmas season:
•Bing Crosby singing
“White Christmas.”
•Mel Torme singing,
“The Christmas Song.”
Chestnuts roasting on an
open fire ... bet you are
now singing along with
him. Aren’t we proud these
titles, which do not intrude
on your nerves and tran
quility, have stood the test
of time?
•Christmas cards from a
friend you have not heard
from in years.
•Neighborhood parties filled with
love and laughter.
For years, we have been honored
with a special card at Christmas from
Adele and Don Hall of Kansas City.
When Adele passed away three years
ago, Don continued the family tradition
of sending cards with a tree ornament
and a holiday message. The cards are
created by Hallmark cards.
This year’s card carries the story of
the “The Legend of the first Christmas
Tree Lights,” and I am pleased to share
it with you.
If you are blessed with something
good, pass it on!
“One evening many centuries ago
while passing through the snowy Ger
man woods, Martin Luther found him
self lost. After praying for comfort and
guidance, he looked up and noticed the
millions of beautiful twinkling stars
overhead.
“He realized that just as God had sent
a star to guide the wise men that first
Christmas, God would surely be there
to guide his way that night.
“Upon arriving home, Luther was
greeted by his family decorating their
Christmas tree. He told them the story
of how God’s twinkling stars had
encouraged him as he tried to find his
way home in the night.
“To remind them of all God’s light
shining through the darkness, he took
the candles from the candelabra nearby
and fastened them to the branches of
the tree.
“And ever since then, shining lights
have adorned our beloved Christmas
trees, filling our homes with the warmth
and glow of the Light of the world.”
Merry Christmas!
Loran Smith is a columnist for the
Barrow News-Journal. He is co-host
of the University of Georgia football
radio pre-game show.
Stay up to date with the latest local
NEWS AT BARROWNEWSJOURNAL.COM.
Senior Center
to host trip
to Memphis,
Tunica
The Barrow County Senior
Center is hosting a trip to
Memphis and Tunica, Miss,
from May 22-26.
The trip includes tours of
Graceland and Sun Studios.
The fee is $410 per person for
a double room; breakfast and
dinners are included. A $75
per person deposit is due by
Jan. 20. Please call 770-307-
3025 for more information.
Happy Birthday
Louise Baker
Dee. 24. 1929 -
May 30. 2003
You re an Amazing A4om
You give of yourself so freely,
And there s a quiet kindness in
the way you do it.
You walk in the grace of God
with a gentleness
That makes those around you
feel loved and valued.
God has truly given you a
special heart, one that nurtures,
Understands, teaches,
and loves — not only in words,
But hy example too.
Thanks for everything Nlom,
for doing more than you re
Asked to, for giving more than
you need to and for being
All that God has called you to
he with such a sweet spirit.
Happy Birthday
Adorn with love,
Your sons,
Bohhy and Donald Baker
December 21,2016 ~ Crossword Puzzle
Brought to you courtesy of: Akins Ford, Winder, Ga.
Across
I. Pluck
5. Memorial Day event
II. Neon, e.g.
14. Doctor Who villainess,
with “the”
15. Big roll
16. “ we having fun yet?”
17. Represent by a tangible
example
19. “So me!”
20. Athletic events
21. “I’m you!”
22. Provide for free, informally
23. Ear of corn
25. Acoustic
27. Largest inland sea
32. “ Brockovich”
33. Perfect, e.g.
34. Coarse file
38. Back, in a way
41. Medical advice, often
42. For all to hear
44. Product of protein metabolism
46. Sympathetic awareness
of others (2 wds)
51. Corrupt
52. Groups of soldiers
55. Abandon
57. Makeup, e.g.
60. Portable device displaying
digital novels
61. Cyst
62. 14th century revival
64. Parenthesis, essentially
65. Bearish
66. Go for
67. Cracker Jack bonus
68. Lace place
69. “ we forget”
Down
1. Fairy tale brother
2. Hindu queen
3. Clothing line
4. Jot
5. Ballpoint, e.g.
6. A chorus line
7. Curb, with “in”
8. Embodiment
9. Deviation from a direct route
10. Charlotte-to-Raleigh dir.
11. Engine fuel (var. spelling)
12. Jack-in-the-pulpit, e.g.
13. Escape, in a way
18. “All kidding ...”
22. Bamboo furniture maker
24. Cork’s country
26. Backstabber
28. Bolivian export
29. Provide, as with a quality
30. Balaam’s mount
31. After expenses
34. Churchill’s “so few”: Abbr.
35. A pint, maybe
36. Ability to pay all debts
37. Whimpered
39. Bauxite, e.g.
40. Shoe strengthener
43. Family head
45. Buenos
47. Soggy
48. Strip the skin from a whale
49. Penalty for illegal delivery
(cricket)
50. Albatross with black feet
53. Marks with a scar
54. shooting
55. Belt
56. “My !” said adoringly
58. Attack, with “into”
59. Food sticker
62. Morgue, for one
63. Undertake, with “out”