Christmas: Eternal Memories
We would be thrilled at seeing our new clothes. Mom would make entire outfits for us in secret. A huge surprise would greet us in the morning!
One morning, I remember awakening to a beautiful dark green wool dress. It had long sleeves and a big, flared skirt embellished all around with little knitted and stuffed cherries with leaves. My sister and I had identical dresses and we also had heavy knit sweaters with matching hats; light green for me, speckled green for Sister.
Our hair was curled the night before into tight ringlets. We all got dressed and went to Church.
To make sure we appreciated the meaning of Christmas, Mom also took us to a big Catholic or Greek Church that had huge and elaborate decorations and Nativity scenes. She would tell us the story of Christmas and how important it was to remember the birth of Christ. We would walk around and marvel at the beautiful lights and decorations.
Gifts in our home were simple and practical. We did not get toys from Mom and Dad. But, our aunts sent us each a toy from the United States; large dolls, trucks for the boys, and a farmhouse set.
We did have a Christmas tree: a three foot branch cut from a neighbor’s pine tree, set into a pot of soil, and decorated with ornaments and live candles. Mom lit the candles at night. We did not have to worry about setting our house on fire; we lived in a stone house!
