TOUCH ON THE SHOULDER MOMENT

For a long time I've wanted to write about memories. To me they are a gift God has blessed us with, like breath and love. We don't cherish them, as we should, either in our mind or with pen. When you talk with your loved ones they recall what they did when they were young, where they were or who they were with. Their fond memories are often not centered around a holiday, vacation or how much money they had, these precious memories are about life. It was a piece of life that was marked just for them. Maybe a "touch on the shoulder from God moment", that is very special to hold on to and share.

Last year in December I went to the local mall and approached random strangers, a big step out of my invisible box of security, as cousin Marge would say. Marge can label these thing when I don't give them that much thought. I asked these strangers if they would share with me a memory, a memory they had from their past, when they were young or old, of Christmas. I was looking for a memory that would bring a smile to their face just recalling the thought. I was hoping to give them a new memory by sharing and stepping out of their box with that touch on the shoulder moment from God.

When you go to the mall you see people shopping with family and friends. They are talking an laughing and having fun. Then you see the separate ones, sitting and waiting for their day-out-to-the-mall partner to get back from their extended shopping. That is who I wanted to talk with, the one who had dropped the smile from their face and just set there like a lump so to speak, waiting for a special memory to mark the day.

First, you could tell that they were caught off guard and scared, who is this NO ONE in my personal space and talking to me? People just don't do that. After the scary look left their face, I could either see an immediate smile or what am I going to say to this quack to make her go away look. To my amazement, most of the strangers were eager to share.

Tricia--Memories of my most precious Christmas was the year we knew that mom and dad were going to divorce in the next year and my sister was heading off to college in California. We would not be together like this as one unbroken family every again. We marked it by having a candle light supper and enjoyed our closeness as a family one last time.


Larry--Dad worked on a cattle farm. We didn't have much money, so any gifts we would get would be hand made, and you didn't expect anything else. We never made a list from a catalog or went on and on what we wanted Santa to bring. It was just the fact we were poor and you couldn't ask for a list of things. We always went to church to the candle lite late Christmas Eve service. Mom would make turkey and dressing and fruit salad on Christmas Day.

Darlene--I was the youngest of 8. We played in the snow alot.......
My husband was ill for 4-5 years before he died. After he passed my three children and I decided to start some new traditions. We began a Christmas progessive dinner. We have done this for four years now. We are unable to get together this year but I hold dear the memories of the past four years together.

Joy--We always went to grandmas house for Christmas. we had to be still and listen for the jingle bells, letting us know Santa was coming. When I was 9 or 10 I noticed that Santa's hands had freckles on them just like Uncle Paul. I was told by my mom to be still and not ruin it for the little ones. We went to the Christmas Eve church program and were given fruit and candy bags tied up with ribbon after the program. Grandma made chicken soup with homemade noodles, chicken stuffing with fruit in it and butterball cookies.


Mary-We always had a real tree. Us kids, 10 total, got to string popcorn to decorate with and make pop corn balls to eat. We would color the stringed popcorn by taking it outside and spraying it with food coloring to make it prettier.


Sandy--The kids down the street sold Christmas tree and we could help, all four of us. With helping out, we would get a free tree for our house. My little sister always sold the most, she put on the charm and everyone enjoyed seeing a little tyke smiling and trying to be a saleman. It worked.
Grandma always made rhubarb pie. Christmas Eve afternoon the four of us kids would sit around a fake brick fireplace made from cardboard. We would sing Christmas carols. I remember Mom and Dad were gone, probably in the up stairs bedroom wrapping our gifts. (Then Sandy cried she hadn't remembered this in a long time, and thanked me for asking her to share a memory)


Dave--We had five kids in our family. My oldest brother had the job of waking us up early on Christmas. We always had Christmas cookies and made homemade taffy.


Cousin Marilyn--We always got a new Christmas outfit. Mine was a full black shirt and a white sweater. I don't remember what I got for Christmas that year. I just remember the outfit. My brother Bob got a new bike, he had a paper route. My dad worked at the school up town as a janitor about a mile away. The day after Christmas he rode Bob's new bike to check the furnace at the school. He said by the time he got to the school he could hardly stand up. He didn't have much bike riding practice... My mother-in-law never put up a Christmas tree until the kids went to bed on Christmas Eve. They got the first sight of it on Christmas morning.

My Sarah--Memories of Iron cookies made by Grandma Elna, Christmas Eve dinner at their home with the smells of ham, cookies, coffee and Grandpas wintergreen skoal. Grandmas nativity scene was placed out so the kids could move the pieces around. Jesus always went missing and ended up in the bottom of the toy box. Grandpa George loved his orange lite candles in the windows. We could cram 25 or more people in that house on Christmas Eve, eat and open presents and leave in time for the Christmas program. We each received a gift our mom bought from Grandpa and Grandma.... The last live tree we had, before mom decided to buy artificial and put one in each room of the house, was hacked apart after the holidays limb by limb so we could get it to the road with out the needles all falling off in the house. We would make peppermint ice cream.

Sue--One funny memory that I have is of going to Christmas Eve mass at my grandparents church. It was a very large cathedral in Rosevill, outside of Detroit. Every year we would drive 1/2 hour to get there, arriving about 45 minutes early, so we could get a seat. Slowly the church would fill up and then folks would be standing in the back and aisles. It never failed that every year, right before the service would start, in would hobble a group of elderly women who had done all they could just to get there. We would give them our seats, because there was no way they could make it standing for a long service. So in the end, we always ended standing up. Somehow it didn't really matter. It was all part of the spirit of Christmas.

George--When I was in the second grade. I was going to a one room school in the Bad Axe area. I was asked to sing a sole for the Christmas program. I had to sing Silent Night and memorize all the verses. We moved to a big dairy farm where my dad was a hired hand. It was a huge house we could stay in. One time us kids were playing hid and seek and I found where some gifts Santa had stored away. They weren't wrapped only marked who would get it, so when Santa wrapped them he would know who to write on the tag. I knew everything I was getting that year. Every year I would go back and find out what I was getting that year. Then we moved and I never found Santas hidding place again.

Cousin Marge-Christmas 1995. David was 9 months old and we lived in an apartment in Vassar. We had our Christmas at home even. Bob left and gassed up the car. He jokingly said to dress warm as I might have to help shovel if we got stuck. We left our appartment at noon and got to Bobs folks at nine in the evening a trip that would usually take 45 minutes tops. Well we had drifts and drifts and drifts and it was still snowing and blowing. Bob was still determined we were going. We were stuck at least a dozen times even before we got to the main road. We barely made it half way on M81 and there were about ten cars stopped, unable to move at all. I sat in the car for hours playing patty cake and itsy bitsy spider. A man came and told us to come to his house, his wife had coffe, chile and the house was warm and dry.The wife had room for sleeping on the floor made up and a schedule for the bathroom and shower. Well we only stayed three hours and Bob had us off again, only to be stuck and charged $5 to pull us out by a greedy farmer and his tractor. He pulled us out and then pulled aside and watched us go 1/2 a mile and get stuck again. Another $5. But we made it by nine p.m. and enjoyed the family Chistmas.

AND FINELY TWO NEW WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS MEMORIES FOR ME THIS YEAR

First I met Denise and Steve to eat and we went to Sandusky to, believe it or not, a Farm Implement Winter Parade. Steve saw it advertised in a farm paper. The streets were lined with bundled people standing and setting in lawn chairs. There were tractors, gravity wagons, manure spreaders, fire and EMT trucks and more all ablaze with solid Christmas lights. One tractor pulled a wagon with a hot air ballon tied down on it and they would shoot the fire from the ballon mechanism 30 feet into the air. It was a wonder no wires or trees got fried.

Second memory was on our Christmas trip to Grant and Sues in the u.p. They planned and took us to a beautifully decorated farm and warming shed all decked out for Christmas, pretty as a Christmas card. Walls were lined with old tools, hides and family pictures. You were welcomed by the family dog, the smell of a wood fire, music and hot cider with a plate of cookies as you waited for the horse drawn sleigh to return and unload its last group of visitors. It was a clear full moon evening, and you could see all the stars. The horses were tired and stopped often to rest but the group we went with were happy to be enjoying the ride and filled the time with singing and conversation. We even had a half way rest by a camp fire in the woods. I loved the horses, petting them and thinking of my dad having worked with large horses like these in his youth when he worked as a lumberjack. I hated to leave the horses side as it would break the close moment with the memory of my dad. I love and miss him so.

Well thats enough about Christmas memories recorded for 2007. More next year.