Christmas Memory
Since I was a child, I have always been enthralled by the Christmas holiday, with the beautiful and joyful decorations, the gift-giving, the food, the hustle and bustle of the season, and the feeling of peace and goodwill to all.
When I was still a young preschool boy living in a small town in Southern Indiana, Santa flew in on a small private plane, landing in a farm field just outside of town. The town firetruck picked up Santa and paraded him through town. Then Santa set up shop at the Firehouse to meet all the kids in town and ask them what they wanted for Christmas.
But one particular Christmas Eve night while we were living in Evansville, Indiana is one of my fondest memories. As I mentioned earlier, I felt like my childhood years in Evansville were some of the happiest in my life.
I think it was Christmas 1964. That year, Evansville got a nice snowfall on Christmas Eve. I remember it snowed most of that day, depositing several inches of pristine freshly fallen snow that had yet to be walked on by anyone. I’m not even sure if the road on our street had been plowed yet. It looked like a real winter wonderland outside. Our house was all decorated. We had a live Christmas Tree that was decorated with brightly colored lights, pretty ornaments, and lots and lots of tinsel. My brothers and I were all excited to open our gifts from Santa on Christmas Day.
In December 1964, I was 11. I was at that age when a child still wanted to believe that Santa brought gifts on Christmas Eve night for all good boys and girls. I was also old enough to realize rationally that this was all a myth. I guess I just believed in the magic of the myth of Santa Claus. There is a town in Indiana, not too far from Evansville. The name of the town is Santa Claus, Indiana. There is a Santa’s Village in town that has a little theme park with real reindeer. The Post Office in the town of Santa Claus, Indiana handled all the mail for Santa. Kids would write letters to Santa telling him what they wanted for Christmas and mail them to Santa Claus, Indiana. There was a shop in Santa’s Village that answered all the letters from the children. It was kind of a form letter, but it was signed by Santa himself.
My brothers and I were so excited about Christmas Eve that we had trouble going to sleep. Of course, our parents told us the age-old fib that Santa wouldn’t come while we were still awake. After some time, I finally dozed off. I awoke later that night. It may have been after midnight, so it was actually Christmas Day. Everything in the house was still enough that you could hear a mouse squeak, but not a creature was stirring. I looked over at my brothers in their beds. They were fast asleep. I got out of bed and quietly snuck down the hall to the living room in my pajamas. The sight that I beheld was awe-inspiring to me. No, I didn’t see Santa putting presents under the tree or see my Mother kissing Santa Claus. It was so late that my parents were also fast asleep in their beds too.
I saw that the lights on the Christmas Tree in the corner of the living room were still on. The soft glow of the brightly colored lights cast a kind of aura around the room. The freshly cut tree filled the room with a sweet, pungent pine aroma. There were boxes of gifts wrapped in bright paper with bows under the tree. I was so in awe of the supernatural beauty of the moment that I didn’t even try to see which gifts were for me. I curled up in an armchair to soak in the scene. To my right was our picture window. The streetlights softly illuminated a wonderful winter scene of the freshly fallen snow outside. There was ice on the outside of the window, but it was nice and warm on my side. I just sat in the chair and admired the scene unfolding before me when a wave of warmth, peace, and love washed over me. I was overwhelmed by the absolute beauty before me, and I started to cry. When everyone got up Christmas morning, they found me curled up in the armchair, fast asleep, with a big smile on my face.
