[Hillbilly77]

Well since it is Christmas I would like to start a sort of fun type of thread.
Ok let's here what your favorite Christmas present ever is.
When I was a kid my family had little to no money so Chritmas had an actual meaning, not just a giant pile of presents.
I was 12 years old and we were having a very bitterly cold spell and we were without electricity and we were running out of firewood. We were to the point were my sister, Mom, and myself were all sleeping in the same room as the fireplace to conserve heat, and it was still only about fifty degress in the room. Christmas morning my sister and I woke up to two presents each one was a warm blanket, and the second was a small jar of homemade cocoa powder. My Mom felt horrible about us having so little but my sister and I both were so thankful for the extra blanket. My Mom heated up some water on the wood stove, we had our hot cocoa and sat under our blankets and sang carols together.
So know that I laid it on the line it your turn.:

 

[oldandcrotchety]

My most memorable year was 1960. We weren't as poor as you were, but not real far from it. The year before, my dad had bought a used (well used) girls bike for me and my brother to share. It was a little embarrassing riding a girls bike, but we were grateful for it none the less. You have to realize that we got our clothes from the Salvation Army and the Goodwill and ate mostly beans and cornbread. When we woke up on Christmas morning we didn't see anything under the tree and were terribly disappointed. After letting us wallow in our misery for a few minutes, my dad told us we should check outside just in case Santa had something that wouldn't fit down the chimney. Parked outside in front of the door was two brand spanking new J.C. Higgins bicycles. To this day I can still see the chrome and red paint. I don't know how my folks afforded the bikes, but they did. I don't remember anything else over the years lighting up my eyes like those bikes.

 

[Apocalypse Now]

I can't really choose 1 ,but the most vivid memories were of getting the Lone Ranger,Tonto,Butch Cavendish and their horses when I was 4 years old. That was 35 years ago and I still have them today. People have asked me to sell them for a healthy profit, but money comes and goes, and you can't replace those items once they are gone.

 

[SmallGame2100]

I'm not sure how close it was to Christmas but when I was 3 years old, [1993], we had a blizzard. Cars were completely covered and my sister and I would run around playing in the massive amounts of snow with our dog. I guess we made a snow dog. Pictures helped me with telling this because I was too young to remember. Thankfully, I was never too poor, but didnt always have a good income. Enough to survive, plus some.

 

[Hillbilly77]

Keep these awsome stories coming it is time for some feel good stories.:thumb:

 

[Ramona M. Faunce]

It wasn't at Christmas time, but one winter Mom gathered all 7 kids around her and made dinner. All she had was pancake mix and a can of fruit coctail. So she made little fruit fritters. I have to admit that I rememer that evening and how good it tasted. It was one of the few times I ever found my mom crying. We were never that poor again, but Mom never made those fruit fritters again either.

 

[dirtyape]

Call me sentimental but my favorite gift is not material.

My favorite gift is waking my son up at the crack of dawn and excitedly telling him that we should go downstairs to see if Santa has visited. And then the look of excitement in his eyes and the inevitable "He came, He came, Santa was here!!"

I care not about getting the glory of all the presents under the tree, soon enough he'll figure it out. All I care about is the fact that for one glorious morning, "Santa" makes my son the happiest kid in the world. Nothing can spoil that moment.

And the best part of its is I have another son who next year will be a little bit more aware of the concept of Santa and it will all start again!!

Thats DirtyApe in a nutshell.

 

[PlacidRambo]

My favorite thing about Christmas is when I wake up and half my siblings are already waiting in the family room. The second oldest hasn't slept well (he fears our house will get robbed during the night) Mom comes downstairs and makes us cinnamon buns. We all sit together as Dad reads about the first Christmas from the bible. We all take turns opening gifts and cards. we all sing Christmas songs. We all enjoy ourselves.

My favorite year was probably when it started snowing for the first time that year and didn't stop until we had three feet of snow all around.

 

[Becka]

I remember the Christmas when I was 8 years old. We didn't have much, and things on my mom's side of the family was strained. She and her dad hadn't spoken to each other in years. Out of the blue, she decided to extend the olive branch and called him a few weeks before Christmas. I'm not sure what all transpired, but he paid for the whole entire family (him, my grandmother, all of his kids, spouses, and his grandkids) to go to Disney World on Christmas day. That's the only time I've ever been to Disney. We had a great time and after that, the family got along.

 

[pepoke]

My wife and I are visiting in-laws in TN and we decided to open one gift today. The last couple of days I have been wondering what was in this small box that felt so light it had to be a gift card. Well I opened it a few hours ago to find a set of keys in there. While I was opening the present she went out to her parents garage and brought in the hard rifle case that the keys could open. I opened it and found a newTikka T3, 30-06 in there. Needless to say I was pretty ecstatic about this gift!

 

[Tugger]

1994 ..... my second daughter was born on december 19th.......she just turned 14 last friday.....that was my favorite x-mas gift ever

 

[Hillbilly77]

These can not be all the good Christmas stories out there. Come on everyone bring up some happy memories for yourself and share some Christmas joy.

 

[Ramona M. Faunce]

Ok! Ok! In 1968 I got my first guitar. I was a humble hippie then and wanted to play on the streets of San Francisco. Never got there. But I had one heck of a time learning to play my guitar and dreaming about where I would go one day.