Wednesday, December 19, 2012

My Favorite Christmas Memory

The beautiful and skinny Mama Kat has a great list of writing prompts this week and I'm feeling chatty so I decided to tackle TWO of them. I'll also be posting my weekly Countdown to Christmas and Elf Shenanigans later today.
Mama’s Losin’ It


Share a favorite Christmas memory

My senior year of high school was much different than I expected it to be. Over the summer, my Dad had been in a horseback riding accident.  He was too injured to return to his job and he was going to school to start a new career as a flight instructor. 

A few weeks after school started, my car was on it's last leg, so I got a job at a local auto parts store as a parts delivery driver and right before Christmas I had gotten my first loan from a bank and bought a 1979 Ford Mustang.  Money was tight and I was paying for all of my own expenses with my little paycheck.

I hated that I was being forced to be an adult a year too soon and I'm sure I sulked around a fair amount of the time.

I wasn't expecting much that Christmas.  My parents had started selling things to raise money to pay bills.  My piano was gone and so was my sister's horse. We had the basics and that was enough for me. 

I was amazed beyond belief when I opened a small box and found a a ring with a sapphire stone inside.  I remember crying because I didn't think I'd be able to get a class ring!  We'd looked at them once and when I realized they were over $200 I knew I'd have trouble saving that much.  Somehow, my parents had scraped enough money together to get my ring.

I'll never forget that day.

List the top 9 things that bring you joy

1.  Holding hands with my children
2.  Planning a trip
3.  Seeing my children happy
4.  Watching my husband get excited about something
5.  Winning 
6.  Riding roller coasters with my family
7.  Eating Chocolate Covered Orange Sticks
8.  Laughing at my son's jokes
9.  Watching my daughter do gymnastics

10 comments:

  1. That's a great story and there is just something about holding the small sweaty hand of a child that brings a smile.

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  2. what a sweet memory. holding hands with my girls is my favorite too.

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  3. #5 -- in the Monopoly sense? Or in the Charlie Sheen sense?

    That's a beautiful story. I bet it gave your parents a lot of happiness, too, to be able to give you that class ring.

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  4. Such a sweet memory for you to have! I'm always amazed by what parents will do to make sure their kids have a good Christmas.

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  5. I love that story.
    And the top 9 things that make you happy...number 10 would be making that list. :)

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  6. Love your list of 9 things- such unique things that aren't the standard top 10 sort of list but all so awesome.

    And what a wonderful Christmas that turned out to be-- our parents really do a lot for us.

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  7. I love this post! Our parents sacrifice so much for us we don't know about until we become parents ourselves. Your list thrills me - especially since I've found a kindred spirit in the love of chocolate orange sticks! I'm addicted to them - and chocolate oranges too!

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  8. That is a GREAT memory! Thx for sharing!

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I love you. You are my best friend! Your hair looks fantastic today!