A Christmas Memory

Christmas, 1991. Jim and I were newly married—and flat broke. He had just started a new job, and I hadn't found a job yet in State College, Pennsylvania, where we lived. As Christmas approached, I wondered how in the world we would be able to buy gifts for our families. I hit upon the idea of creating a little book of our Christmas memories to give to our families. I wrote some entries, and solicited contributions from my family as well.

This week, I'm sharing the story that Jim (aka The Hubs) wrote for that book about one particular Christmas when he was six years old. 

A CHRISTMAS MEMORY

by James Casey, Jr.

Christmas, 1991

We had only been living in Wichita Falls for a few months in 1969. Earlier that year, Neil Armstrong had taken the first steps on the moon, Richard Nixon had become president, and we were living in a new place. At the age of six, I think the latter was the most impressive. We hadn't lived there long enough for me to have made many new friends, so it gave me a chance to really concentrate on our first Christmas in our new home.

Before that year, we had always lived fairly close to our grandparents, so we usually spent part of the holiday with them. Now we were farther away, and, since we had visited them over Thanksgiving, our family had decided to stay in Wichita Falls for Christmas. In a way, I was disappointed that we weren't going back to Oklahoma, because we had always had snow for Christmas and I was sure we weren't going to get anything resembling snow in Texas. All in all, from a six-year-old's perspective, it was looking like a bleak Christmas. After all, how was Santa Claus going to find us among all the bushes and little mesquite trees? We didn't even have a fireplace for him to come down.

Dad's new job was as assistant manager for a lumber yard. As such, he, instead of the manager, had to work Christmas Eve. Fortunately, they would close at noon, so Dad would be able to come home early. But for some reason, it wasn't until about five o'clock when he finally got home. I was upset because I had wanted to play some football with him that afternoon, but now it was already dark. Dad explained that he had to work later than he had planned, but that we could play tomorrow. He told me that if I would cheer up a little, he and Mom had a surprise for us that would show us that Christmas in a new place wasn't so bad after all.

Needless to say, Christmas was leaving this particular six-year-old a bit flat. I was happy to be with my family, but it was one disappointment after another that year, and I had no idea what Dad was talking about. Well, I figured the least I could do was pretend to be excited as we sat down to our Christmas Eve meal, so that we'd still get the surprise Dad had promised. How could I have known that this Christmas would be one of the best ever?

After dinner we were getting ready for church when my sister came running into my room. She opened my curtains and told me to look outside. When I looked, I saw that about two inches of snow had fallen since the sun went down. Even at six, I knew that it didn't snow when it was as warm as it had been that day. What was going on? I ran into Dad and asked him if that was the surprise. He seemed as shocked as we did, so I knew that he hadn't arranged for the snow. But things were looking up. At least we were going to have a white Christmas.

After church, Dad told us that since we had cheered up, he was going to take us to some old lady's house. This didn't make any sense to me. If we had cheered up, why was he going to make us unhappy again by taking us to some old woman's house? How depressing. But as we were driving, we started to see a glow up ahead, and the traffic was getting heavier and heavier. What was going on? Then we got to the top of the hill.

Down below us was a huge mansion with an enormous yard. And all around the outside of the yard were hundreds of people. The first thing I saw when we got closer was Santa Claus and his reindeer landing on a small house. I knew this wasn't the real St. Nick because he and the reindeer looked a little shiny and slick. But they were moving, and Santa was saying "Merry Christmas!" Wow! All around the old woman's house were moving, speaking, colorful displays of elves, nativities, workshops, and toys. Everywhere you looked there was something new to see. And every time I turned around, there were Mom and Dad smiling behind us.

After what seemed like hours of looking and exploring all over the yard, it was finally time to go home. I must have fallen asleep on the way home, because the next thing I knew, I was waking up on Christmas morning and going into the living room. Sure enough, the cookies and milk were gone and there were presents under the tree. The snow was about a foot deep outside, and the sun was shining through the windows. Thanks to the love and understanding of my parents, and the incredibly generosity of an old widow, Santa had found us after all.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I found a photo of one of the displays that Jim may have seen that year. This photo was published in the Wichita Falls Times, 3 December 1969. The annual display was put on by Mrs. L. T. Burns in a tradition begun with her late husband for the Wichita Falls community.¹ The displays were later donated to Midwestern State University, which continues the tradition today as the MSU-Burns Fantasy of Lights. 

Until next time... 

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© Nancy Gilbride Casey, 2024. All rights reserved.

 

NOTES 

¹ "Flying High," Wichita Falls Times, 3 December 1969, p. 1, col 2.; imaged, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/780905690/ : accessed 1 December 2024).