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| Christmas Memories - Dec. 24 |
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Money was tight, clothing a true gift
My special memory goes back to my early childhood, 5 years old . My parents were struggeling fiancially. Money being tight, my hopes of getting anything from Santa, other than socks, were slim .
I had a doll someone had given me (a hand me down). I loved the doll, but she only had underwear on. My 18-year-old cousin was living with us and unknown to me she took an old winter coat of my mother`s, brown with fake fur shawl collar and she made a coat and bonnet for my doll. Fur all around the arms, front, and all around the bottom of the coat and fur around the bonnet framing the face .
Christmas morning when we went in to see what was under the tree, there was my doll all dressed up! I was filled with surprise and joy. I got dressed and went all around the neighborhood knocking on one door after the other, showing them my beautiful doll .
I remember the faces of my dear neighbors being filled with love at my happiness of this great gift of love. It was truly the joy of the Lord .
Piney Smith
Elk City
White elephant gift a hit
Years ago in Riggins, we had an adult Christmas party at Riggins Branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We agreed to do a "white elephant" game, and you know that a "white elephant" is -- something you don't want, can't sell or give away. We had to wrap our "gift" and take it into the game with us where we all sat in a large circle. Carole Astle read a story about a child who wanted Christmas everyday. When she said Christmas, you had to pass the gift in a certain direction, but I can't remember what she said for us to send it in the other direction. It was hilarious and most of us had a great time. When the story was over, we opened the the gift we had in our hands.
Gladys Hodges and her mother didn't understand the concept and really complained, because they didn't feel they had received value for value. Dale and Carole had been trying to get people to adopt their puppies, so you know they had a little box with a card in it giving a puppy to whoever received their present. The puppy was in a cozy box in the garage.
What did I give? Well, there I was running around the house that last hour before the party, still trying to find a "white elephant," when I spied the toilet plunger. We hadn't gotten around to replace it, so I grabbed it up and brandished it triumphantly at my husband and yelled, "White elephant!" He said, "You wouldn't!" But I did. Guess who ended up with it at the party? Jerry Lowe opened up that package, shook it at the crowd and exclaimed, "Just what I needed for my outside toilet!." He was very good natured about that prank.
Iris Seyfried
Ogden, Utah
It was nearing Christmas of 1970 and decisions had to be made concerning the kids. We were expecting another baby, but realized that jumping the due date our baby would be born on Christmas eve. Finally I put away the sewing machine and finished the many doll clothes I had made for Thasa so she would have a baby like mom's. My parents were called in Lewiston to take Thane and Thasa and they arrived with my sister and family to get kids and gifts. A few tears were shed at not having Christmas with them, but we knew they would have a good time with the cousins.
Larry and I ate an early dinner and exchanged our single gifts to each other. We left for the hospital as light snow fell. Tara Noel Hauntz was born at 9:19 p.m. with lots of dark hair and would look like her dad who is special to her. As he left the hospital that night I told him to look in the closet for another gift. His surprise gift was a ring with three stones in it to represent our three children. We always called it his, "Mother's Ring." The next day all the family from Lewiston made a quick trip to check out the new baby and decided she would do.
This isn't quite the end of the story about our daughter, Tara Noel, and hospitals. On her first Thanksgiving after possibly getting into some aspirin (Thane baby-sitting) she had her stomach pumped. The nurses thought she had eaten spaghetti, instead it was white yarn pieces from a craft project. She later became a candy striper, C.N.A., worked for Syringa for a year, put herself through nurses training while working and is an RN at Hogg Hospital in critical care in Newport Beach, Calif. In October she had emergency surgery and after being cared for by Thasa and family her brother is with her now to help. Maybe to make up for the stomach pumping thing.
We called her out little klutz as she tripped over the flowers in the rug, shoved a wire in the plug in, poured candle wax down the sink, put ashes in a paper sack that didn't burn down the house, set a waste basket on fire from a candle, used bags of powdered sugar for frosting and then threw it out. We could go on and on. Did she grow out of it, not really just more refined? She is a gifted nurse, loyal friend, great cook, caring aunt, sister and daughter.
So this is our "Christmas Eve Baby" and I hope she won't be too mad I wrote some of her story. She has to take care of us when we get old and we don't want any enemas.
Her mother, Carol Sue Hauntz, Grangeville.
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