the fire house train garden 30 years still amazing.

Every single Christmas I ever got to spend with my grandpa before he passed on (in 1994). Those truly were the best of times and I'll never forget them. He was a wonderful man.

The time a fire cracker when off in my hand on the 4th.
Worth

Mine is a stretch of time when I was a youngin'. Back when me and my sister were young we would go to my grandparents for Christmas Eve. Back when they were alive and my uncles were still alive...it was great. All that good food...people partied and danced. Us kids were anxiously waiting of Santa Claus. There was a big tower that had a red blinking light on it. Every Christmas Eve we thought it was Rudolph and begged my folks to take us home so we could go to sleep. Why we never remembered seeing it the rest of the year is beyond me.

Christmas morning was magical. My sister and I would always wake up early...5 or 6 am and slowly descend the stairs and peek around to see the mound of presents. That was so great. Then later in the day my other grandparents would come over with more gifts! Oh, to be a kid again.

Duane

I think my favorites were when lots of family got together. Mom and dad, various uncles talking with dad. Mom and all my aunts taking on the food. Kids, my brother, sister and various cousins running around. This was at home.

At grandma and grandpas, I still remember when I was old enough to mash the potatoes without supervision. Odd how this stands out in my mind. Grandma and grandpa had a big, silver metal tree. I loved decorating it. I had never seen anything like it. Saw a report on the news last night saying that these old metallic trees were collectors items and going for a lot on ebay. Who knew?

I also remember going up into the mountains of eastern Washington once to cut down a Christmas tree. Mom and dad, my brother and sister and my Godparents and their kids. We were a pretty close knit group. Imagine trying to ride herd on all those kids. But the snow must have been a foot deep, so it's not like we could go far and fast. Then the ride home to warmth and hot chocolate.

My dad died in 1995 and both sets of grandparents long gone as well, so I treasure these memories all the more. Lots more to write about, but it's someone else's turn.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all,

Mary

Probably would have been the 1948 Christmas. For some reason, the Wright's decided to return to Taliesin for Christmas instead of remaining in Arizona. The first thing that they did was give us a crate of mixed citrus. Huge oranges and grapefruit and virtually fresh off the trees. That was impressive to me at a time when such things were almost a luxury.

That also came with an invitation to spend Christmas Eve at Taliesin. "Common" people didn't often get such invitations. Prior to going, my parents promised me any fate worse than death for the slightest hint of misbehavior! American chestnuts were common yet and that's exactly what we did. We spent a lovely evening roasting chestnuts in the fireplace in what was normally Frank Lloyd Wright's summer living room!

Martin

One of my favorites was my first christmas after my son was born.He was 10 moths old and we had some friends over.He seemed to want a toy bad enough that he took his first steps by himself just to reach it.A week later at christmas he was walking pretty well.It was a very big deal at the time.
My other favorite was my first christmas away from home.I had run away from home when I was 17 and had hitchhiked to Toronto ,so at christmas time I was alone without family.A co worker of mine had invited me over for christmas brunch with her family.It was wonderful and her family who had never met me before had even had a few little gifts for me.I couldn't believe how kind they were.I've never forgot.
Ann.

Another memorable Christmas was 1975. I flew out to Seattle early on the morning of Christmas Eve to meet up with the British m/v PHEMIUS which was to be in Tacoma. Arrived at SeaTac in early afternoon to find that every shipping business had closed down at noon. Shuttle bus was taken to a Tacoma Holiday Inn nearest the port complex. Temporarily stored my luggage there and went looking for the ship. She wasn't there! Only official office open was the US Customs grain inspector at the end of the main jetty. After a lot of calls to pilot companies and the Coast Guard, we could only determine that the ship hadn't come down from Vancouver yet. That was followed by a long walk back to the Holiday Inn. At least I had a most beautiful view of Mt. Rainier bathed in gold from the sunset. Christmas Eve was spent sharing drinks and snacks with the only person on duty, the Holiday Inn desk clerk. We commandeered the bar and kitchen while watching Munster Family reruns!

Christmas morning found me back at SeaTac looking for any flight to Vancouver. One little commuter airline was open for business and it wasn't long before I was in Vancouver and wondering what to do next. One thing that I did do was have my passport stamped just to show that I was there on Christmas Day.

Next was to rent a car and figure out where to go and how to get there in the pouring rain. The city map, which came with the car, showed that I might be able to view the entire port from the zoo so off to visit their noted aquarium. While there, I got a general idea where the new VanTerm was from the huge new container gantry cranes. Plotted my course and back on the virtually empty streets to search for the PHEMIUS. No joy driving the street running parallel to the old port as all view was blocked by warehouse and only short little side streets. Finally figured that I had to get right to the water to have another look. Turned left into what was almost an alley and I was bow-on to the ship!

Getting from the car to the ship, I was totally soaked. Then couldn't find a soul moving other than the Chinese crew having their feast and all "No speak English!" Then heard sounds in the Officers Salon and walked into the middle of the Christmas dinner, much to the surprise of the Captain who hadn't got the word yet that I was coming! ChEng gave up his place at the head table so I'd have a place beside the Captain. The whole thing had been such a trying experience that I have no memory of what went on after that until waking up the next morning in the pilot's cabin!

Eventually ended up full circle by spending New Year's Day in Tacoma, where I officially arrived illegally since the PHEMIUS was not USCG certified for passengers. In the case that Customs were going to be "sticky", a second crew list had been prepared with me listed as "leading bandsman"!

The next Christmas, same ship, different coast, and not quite as equally memorable but with plans which went awry right from the start.

Martin

It changes all the time. I had a lot of great experiences when I was young, and now that I have kids I enjoy watching them and creating memories for them. One Christmas when I was young we hooked up sleds to the back of the car and our dad drove us around---what a blast!!!

Tyffanie

I wrote about this on the Garden Party forum a long time ago.
This isn't my favorite memory, maybe you could call it most moving most... something anyway.
One August, nine years ago, my brother-in-law, age 32, was killed on a local expressway. While helping another stranded motorist, he was hit by a car. He was rushed to the hospital, but he was brain dead. As a family we agreed that his organs should be donated because that is what he would of wanted.
So the rest of the year pretty much sucked. Thanksgiving wasn't very happy, and my husband and I were not looking forward to Christmas with his family.
Christmas morning I got up and started to read the paper. I got to the Letters/Opinions page. There was a beautiful letter from a woman who's brother had received the heart of the man who was killed on the expressway. She was thanking the family for giving her brother a chance to live longer. So there I was sobbing(I still get teary eyed when I tell this story) on the couch trying to read it to my husband. It was very emotional, but it did make the day bearable.

I have to say my most memorable was Christmas Eve last year, even tho it was delayed a week.

I am a very elderly grandmother, with four grown children and six grandchildren, who always meet at my home on Christmas Eve for exchanging gifts and partying. My ten year old granddaughter had been recovering nicely from a rare form of cancer but got chicken pox (of all things) before Christmas and had to be rushed back into the hospital. She knew Santa would find her in the hospital but was very very upset thinking she would miss Christmas Eve at my house with her cousins and aunts and uncles.

So we postponed Christmas Eve at my house until Carly was home, which was really on New Years Eve. We all had a blast and it was kind of nice giving and gettting gifts after Christmas. And I was very very proud of the rest of my grandchildren who so willingly agreed with postponing our gettogether until Carly could also be there.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all !!

.......Doris, NJ

BTW two of the tomatoes on the Red Robin plants on my dining room buffet are turning color, but they won't be ripe for Christmas...........