Memories, memories. When I was a kid, I was a member of the Boys' Brigade for a time, who met in the hall of the church across the road from where I then lived. One year, we were shown a catalogue from which we could order various Christmas goodies, and I chose a chocolate Advent calendar with an illo of Santa on it. There was something about that picture that appealed to me, and I eagerly awaited its arrival.
Imagine my disappointment then, when I received a different one to what I'd been expecting and paid for. "They must have been out of them, so they've sent another!" was all the female Brigade leader said by way of explanation. However, I never quite forgot that Santa, and many years later (at least 20 I'd say, perhaps more), I saw a pack of three plastic hanging Santas, identical to the one on the Advent calendar from so long before. (I think I obtained them from another mail order catalogue, but it could've been from a local shop.)
That's one of them illustrating the top of this post and, as I said, it's a dead-ringer for the undelivered one from my childhood. I've also got a much smaller one, a cake decoration, which I acquired too many years ago for me to recall exactly when (though it was after the larger ones). Every Christmas, when I'm hanging them out, a mere glance transports me back to that church hall (demolished around 22 years ago) and I'm once again ten years old with almost my whole life ahead of me.
To borrow (and tweak) some lines of verse from the poem, HALCYON DAYS...
"Remembering with poignant joy,
the happy lad I was at ten -
And wishing I could be that boy,
if only for one day again."
Do you have any recollections of Christmases past which you'd like to share with your fellow Criv-ites? If so, the comments section awaits.
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On reflection, I think it was actually a group called the Cubs that I was a member of when this occurred. My time in the Boys' Brigade was from a different period, held in the hall of another school than the one I attended through the week.
Babycham and homemade shandy always remind me of childhood Christmases - my parents rarely drank alcohol but we'd have beer at Christmas and lemonade to make the shandy. And Babycham too - us kids were allowed to drink that :)
ReplyDeleteI associate Babtcham with Christmas as well, CJ, mainly because of the TV ads I saw in my childhood. So, even 'though I don't drink, I bought some Babycham glasses about 17 years ago.
ReplyDeleteI'll share with you all my memories of the first Christmas I ever remember way back in the mid 50's. As a toddler I sometimes used to climb into my parents bed with them in the early hours, then after a while I would start fidgeting about and would kick my legs furiously until I had expelled them both from the bed. Once I had the whole double bed to myself, I would then drop off to sleep, like a little angel!
ReplyDeleteOur family always used to Christmas at my Granny's and at the first one I remember I was put to bed in my Granny's bed to share with her, as I was only small. " Now remember, " my Mother instructed me as she tucked me in that Christmas Eve night, " DON'T KICK YOUR GRANNY OUT THE BED! "
" I won't! " I promised.
That night, in the middle of the night, I kicked my Granny out the bed.
I don't know where she got some sleep, perhaps in an armchair? AND she suffered with bad legs as well!!
In spite of my apalling behaviour, Santa had left me one of Mother's stockings crammed full of goodies, including some little square Noddy books.
Anyway, despite this dodgy start Granny loved me and I loved her DEARLY, so much so that every year I would have a fortnightly Summer holiday at Granny's - a tradition I continued right up until I got married.
EVERY single Christmas I remember magical times at Granny's, so here's to those BRILLIANT childhood times........
And here's to your brilliant childhood reminiscence, JP. Who's next?
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