The Best Christmas of My Life
I recall getting up before my parents and Dad complaining that he had to get up so early. He had the day off, but did not always have Christmas day off. I don't recall if he worked the day before, and if it was the night before, then he would have had close to no sleep at all.
It was not snowing as I recall, but there was knee deep snow on the ground. Knee deep for a 10 year old that is. It was right into the gifts of course. My brother being 15 at the time was not as into it, but I remember him enjoying himself that day.
This is when I got the microscope and chemistry set. The microscope went to 500 power and you could see blood cells with it. Of course I needed to try that out right away and had mom prick my finger and help me make a slide. She worked testing blood in the lab at the hospital at the time. It rather blew my mind seeing cells from my own body like that.
My brother got a crystal radio kit and he enjoyed following the directions to put it together. To be honest I remember it being out for a couple of weeks, then I never saw it again. My microscope I had for years until it was knocked off the table and destroyed.
The chemistry set lasted about a week, then the experiments had been done several times each and it was used up.
I also got a couple of Hardy Boys books. I had a lot of them by that time. Although I was dyslexic, I read a lot as a child - a lot more than I do now. I was also advanced in my reading, writing and vocabulary by the age of 10. I remember them thinking I was slow at first then I was tested and they realized I had a disability, but was above average IQ wise. At the time there was very little they could do to accommodate the disability.
There was always hard candy and nuts out in the living room at the Christmas holiday. There was also these orange gummy candies that I loved a lot. I had no idea where Mom got them, as I never saw them in the corner store near us as a child or into my teen years. I only ever saw them in bulk when I was in my 20's for the first time.
In the evening we had an over cooked and dry turkey, the usual veggies, cabbage rolls, perogies, and mashed potatoes that where lumpy. The gravy was never that great either and Mom always put way too much pepper in it. The highlight was Dad let me have half a glass of beer at the end of the meal. I'm sure there would be hell to pay for that these days, but in the 1970's, it would not a big deal.
In the evening my Uncle, Aunt, and 2 Cousins came over - the 3rd had not been born yet. They gave me a record by The Eagles. The album was One of These Nights from 1975. I had no idea who they where. At the time I liked music on the radio and did have a few albums for my stereo but did not really pay attention to the names of bands. I was simply amazed my cousins and I went and put it on the turn table in the basement room I had for my activities. I remember when Journey of the Sorcerer came on I was mesmerized. By far not their most popular song from the album, but I loved it.
I did get into a spot of trouble when they asked me what Santa had given me. Well, I had been told that November that he did not exist. The fact was, I'd figured that out by then and had realized it was my parents giving me gifts in his name. I was stuck for a moment, then told them I was too old for Santa to give me a gift, and that I'd grown out of it. I recall them saying they would never grow out of it.
After a full day of excitement, we ended up watching a late movie (10pm) and then I was off to bed. Normally at 10 I was in bed by 10pm, but was allowed to watch. It was the movie Killdozer (1974) and it was not long after it was released in the drive-ins. The movie kind of sucks to todays standard, but for some reason I liked it. I recently watched it again and it was terrible.
The next year I started to get "practical" gifts and the fun was over - it was socks and underwear there after. Now I'd like it if someone got my new undies to say the least. I paid a fortune for the last batch of 10. In any event, it was the last of an era for me, and the start of a more mature and a lot less fun life. Maybe I romanticized it because it was the last Childs Christmas I had, but I think of it as my best day ever.
BTW the movie has a 5.0/10 on IMDB and I gave it a 2 (I just looked). As well, I know this is early for a Christmas story, but it came to mind and I wanted to post it.
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