12/19/18
Chatterbox
Betty
Kaiser
The
older I get, the more reflective I become during the Christmas season. At this stage of my life, the joyful ghosts of
Christmas past bring me great joy and fill me with gratitude.
The
heart of the season—the birth of Jesus— has not changed. But everything else
has. Especially gift giving. I miss the old days of fulfilling childhood dreams
with big and small surprises. Today we buy gift cards. Come along with me on a
trip down memory lane and see if you can relate.
My family’s
early history (both sides) was one of poverty. An orange in the toe of a
stocking was a big deal. It also became a tradition.
My
parents were born at the turn of the 20th century. My dad’s family of
seven was dirt poor in Missouri. I don’t remember him ever talking about
receiving a gift. He and his siblings were barefoot and wore dirty hand-me down
clothes. His mother died of tuberculosis when he was in the 6th
grade and he quit school to go to work to put food on the table.
Mother
was an only child and her dad originally was a roughneck in the oil fields of
Mexico. Early pictures of her show a barefoot girl in a dirty dress in the
blowing desert sand. Later, things picked up rather dramatically for her family
and I now have her beautiful French china doll.
Mom and
dad met and married in Missouri and moved to California near her parents during
the Great Depression. Grandpa established a business and by the grace of God
they all survived and went on to buy houses and live the American dream.
Chuck’s
family immigrated from Wisconsin to Calif., during WWII. In Long Beach, his dad
welded the Victory Ships. It was a dangerous job but it both helped the war
effort and put food on the table for his family. Later, his job at Sears bought
Christmas gifts for his three sons.
One
year when Chuck was about 8 or 9 Santa brought him his favorite gift ever—a
Gilbert Erector Set. He spent hours
building cars and even a motorized roller coaster. It foretold his future as a
craftsman extraordinaire.
In my family,
I remember what seemed like lavish Christmases. Oranges and apples were in
stockings. Under the tree were new clothes and a toy. I still have my Madame
Alexander bride doll. My favorite was a Schwinn bicycle. The same one that I
would later fall off while racing the boy down the street. It put me in the
hospital with a compound fracture of my left arm.
Our
kids were blessed with toys. Their dad managed stores for Toy World! A
childhood dream world. They always knew what the latest and greatest toys were.
Chuck would put them on lay-away to be brought home and wrapped at midnight after
the store closed on Christmas Eve.
Kathy, our
oldest, was an avid doll collector and had her own dad-built playhouse in the
backyard. Her favorite? “My bike,” she said. “In the pre-car, parents drive the
kids to a million activities days…bikes were our freedom, our connection with
our friends, the beach, shopping and more!”
Son Jeff
was all about speed and music: skateboards, model cars, model airplanes and
trumpets.
Grandson Matthew says, “My absolute favorite
gift was a used MacBook when I was in middle school. This gift allowed me to
have something to create music on; illustrate and sketch out ideas; learn about
things through sources like YouTube. It was an incredible gift that allowed me
to learn everything from music mixing to video editing and graphic design. It is
something that will forever stick out in my mind and I am super grateful for.”
Ashley,
our granddaughter-in-law remembers her family’s on-going puzzle tradition. Every
Christmas morning there’s a new puzzle for everyone to enjoy. She says it keeps
them connected and doing something together with very little effort.
Finally,
John, our youngest son, passes on a lesson learned:
“When I
was 13, I wanted a 12-string guitar more than anything in the world. Knowing
that no one would buy me a brand new 12 string guitar for Christmas—too expensive,
too extravagant—I put a janky, used,
"trampoline
action" 12 string guitar on layaway at Heck Music in Ventura.
“When
my mom heard about it, she drove me to Heck Music, demanded they give my money
back, and lectured me all the way home saying, ‘Never buy yourself something
before Christmas!’
“I was
humiliated, and angry. I knew darned well I wasn't getting a 12-string guitar
for Christmas.
“On Christmas
day, my grandparents arrived. Grandpa tossed me the car keys and said, "Well,
you better get the presents out of the trunk." I opened the trunk, and
sitting right on top was a guitar case!
“I had
to wait until all the other presents were opened before I opened that guitar
case. Inside was a brand new, beautiful Yamaha FG312 12 string guitar. I played
that guitar for decades, until it was (sadly) stolen from my office about 10 years
ago. Best gift ever!
“The
moral of the story is, never buy yourself something before Christmas...because
you never know what you might get!”
Merry
Christmas, everyone! And may all your memories be ones of joy.
Contact
Betty Kaiser’s Chatterbox at
