I know I'm the one who brought it up, but it would be very difficult for me to designate one particular Christmas as the bestest Christmas ever. I've experienced a lot of good Christmases. Also, I have to decide if I'm referring to "the Christmas season" or just what happens on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. "Christmas", as we all know, involves much more than December 24th and 25th. In some years we were not even able to be with family on those days and had our "Christmas" on some other day.
But for the purposes of this analysis, I am going to talk about the bestest December 24th and 25th ever.
5. There was the Christmas that we made a believer of our doubting son for one more year. Well at least he was smart enough to make us think he still believed the next year (Why don't most kids figure this out?) He had seen a basketball goal at Sears several weeks before Christmas. It was one of those goals for inside that had netting and returned the ball to the shooter each time. The set had a timer for contests of who got the most goals within a certain period of time. I was glad when he decided to ask Santa for it. I called and paid for one in advance. On Christmas Eve when I went to pick it up they had sold it. The only one they had left was the display. I had no choice but to take it. He helped me secure it in the bed of the truck and off I went. The problem was what to do with it at home. My neighbor let me put against their house on the far side from us. That night our son went to sleep with visions of sugar plums dancing in his head. During the night I managed to set up the goal in his room while he slept. Needless to say, the next morning he was thrilled to find his basketball set Later he said, "There is no way anybody but Santa Claus could have set that up." Way.
4.. Then there was the Christmas several years later in 1996 that we were having Christmas at my wife's family's home in Jasper, Alabama. It was over 70 degrees outside during the day on Christmas Eve and not much cooler that night. Sometime that evening my son and I decided to go to the movies. We went to see Mars Attacks. This Tim Burton classic redefines "cheesy sci-fi movies." We laughed ourselves silly and then left to go home. With the combined effect of the stupid movie and the very warm night, my son asked "Dad, is there anything about this that feels like Christmas Eve to you?" And I replied, "Nothing at all." And yet for both of us year by year we have such fond memories of that father-son ridiculous sci-fi outing on the eve of Jesus' birth. It has grown to be for us both one of our favorite Christmas memories. He reminded me yesterday that this is the 20th anniversary of that sacred event.
3. As a kid, there was the Johnny Seven Christmas. I'm pretty sure my great aunt was involved in this purchase. I spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at my grandmother's house with my family, aunts, uncles and cousins. Christmas Eve was so much fun with home movies and the silent film The Night Before Christmas. So much good food and good times. Around 10pm, Santa rang a bell to tell us to go to bed. Yep, our Santa went to all the houses in the world twice in one night. No big deal for Santa Claus. Then Christmas morning was a winter wonderland for a kid. Too many good stories to recall and recount. But there was this one. The Johnny Seven OMA (One Man Action) was one of the best selling toys in 1964. It is now an expensive and highly sought after collector's item. Christmas of 1964 it was just an incredibly fun toy. I think it was one of my older cousins who actually got it for Christmas. But very quickly it really didn't matter. Its many features included seven different actions. One of them was a grenade launcher. Everyone took turns shooting the wonderful weapon, Then somebody got the idea of attaching a straight pin to the end of the grenade. And thankfully someone followed with the idea of introducing balloons to the game. I think even my grandmother was firing that gun before the morning was over. Balloon carcasses were everywhere (No, I can assure you that my grandmother wasn't firing that gun).
2. One of the bestest Christmases ever was not one Christmas but three consecutive Christmases. Something happened that I can't talk about. Something happened more good and more fun than I can say. Well I can't say . I don't think I've had as much fun before or since. We've talked about trying to recreate it, but we can't. It's in the annals of Christmas past. I'm smiling all over now thinking about it. We all agreed to never discuss it. Not because it was something so bad but because it was something so good for so many people. So that's all I'm going to say about it. But I can't recall the most meaningful Christmas ever without mentioning those Christmases..
1. 2016 is shaping up to be the bestest Christmas ever. It has the makings of an incredible experience. And it, of course, involves my son. A few weeks ago he called us and made a proposition. For several reasons we hesitated at first and then said, "What the heck? It's our family. And it's Christmas."
Between now and Christmas Day I hope that you, too, will recall some of the most memorable Christmases for you and your family. Even if this Christmas, for whatever reason, isn't shaping up to be your favorite, you always have your memories. And then again, maybe you just need to redefine what your favorite Christmas would consist of and see what happens. There's hope that this one can be more meaningful than you've imagined. And just for your information, I found the Johnny Seven on Ebay for $550.00. Ho Ho Ho!
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