Christmas Memories...
Verily, I've got so many fond memories of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day that I don't know where to start...
We're all like that, assuredly.
Not all of us will share these memories on a blog though - I assume...!
I shall - starting now!
1972 I remember first being aware of the TRUE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS then - just as I was being taught that the Boston Bruins dominated the NHL, that there was no Santa Claus but that there was a Saint Nicholas and that Christ was God... And we were celebrating His birthday, first and foremost! I remember it because I vividly recall being held next to the window curtains - and the Nativity Set was set up there, too... I reached out to grab the curtains - presumably to get them out of my view, as they were obstructing it from gazing at Baby Jesus in the Manger - and I was told "não se mecho nas cortinhas!" in a playful way... I responded "O Kiko" and everyone thought I was trying to say "curtains" or "cortinhas" - but I truly meant "O Cristo"... The Christ! +++ +++ +++ 1975 I remember awaiting the Day so anxiously - my godfather worked in a toy factory and his wife (and my aunt, on top of godmother) had promised me "a box full of new toys" mostly action figures as they knew it was what I prefered... Most in the family knew it was all creative little me needed - the characters - as I made up my playsets of whatever surroundings I would find myself in! I was told, therefore, that a whole new slew of characters were headed my way on Christmas - and I braced for it big time! I introduced a storyline into my playtime - making my already present toys prepare for the influx of "new blood" into the mix! I was primed and ready in mid-November, already, to welcome the new characters into my stories! I even gave a name to the new group of characters - whose components I had narrow a clue about; all I knew was that they would be, for the greater part, ACTION FIGURES...! I had to bide my time though - obviously - and begrudgingly did so... Until, finally, the day arrived! And the disappointment to find that I already had most of the good ones in the lot - and the rest were actually discontinued or outright thrown-away faulty models - was stingingly great! I never again pumped myself up so much for ANY sort of gift - ever again in my life! (The moral being: we can anticipate with baited breath, we sure can do so, when the Gift comes from the Divine - but not when it will come from mortal, human hands!) +++ +++ +++ 1978 I remember receiving my first train set, back then... That was an event! I incorporated it into all my playtime stories for years to come! Just for realism's sake... +++ +++ +++ 1981 The first Christmas without her saintly mother for my cousin São... +++ +++ +++ 1982 My first "adult" gift unwrapping: when I was given a NEW SUIT! Wow - I was no longer a BOY; I was now a MAN! I don't like to even wear a suit! Still don't... Certainly will NOT wear a TIE... +++ +++ +++ 1986 I am not sure if it was after the World Series disappointment that year, or on Christmas Day per say; all I know is that it certifiably is THE YEAR in which I first drank enough beer in order to both get drunk AND decide that I definitvely did not like the taste of beer in the first place...!
Aye, I most probably got drunk on BOTH occasions... +++ +++ +++ 1990 My first Christmas as a University student! 'Nuff said.... +++ +++ +++ 1999 The Ultimate Christmas - or so I thought! (And, yes ; I fast-forwarded to the end of the millennium right away, just to save myself some anecdotes from the years 1991-1998 that I can't remember in whole right now...! Saving them for later - on the Saudades Blog!) +++ +++ +++ 2004 The Attempted Break-In Christmas Night! I will always fondly remember that one: "Santa" was stoned -aye, real high!- and tried getting in here while everyone was presumably fast asleep... Ahh, but I was NOT asleep! I liked the succession of events that followed: I got to shout at "Santa", defame "Santa" to his face, rumble with "Santa", call the cops on "Santa" when he came back for more, watch as he got maced (pepper-sprayed, really) in my backyard, handcuffed and beaten some more - not to mention slammed upon the hood of the car and thrown in there for good measure! All that - and he hadn't even brought any gifts - the fat bastard! And then - I got to call a certain someone at 4 IN THE MORNING - a certain someone that I blamed for the whole sordid happening... I shouted some more, defamed some more, insulted and threatened the JERK... Here's to you, Gourgen Sevantsian - I will NEVER FORGET THAT... (Fat chance I'll ever FORGIVE it!) I hope you have a lousy 2009! But I am digressing right here - and this is NOT the lambasting blog either...! Let's move on...! +++ +++ +++ 2006 My first Christmas without a father - with a new, luminous guardian angel, watching over me... The first Christmas of Senhora Maria Adelina Pimentel without her beloved husband João Jacinto... +++ +++ +++ 2007 The first Christmas without a father for the Da Lima sisters - and the first without her own hubby for Senhora Ines Rebelo, all relatives of mine... I know how they must have felt... +++ +++ +++ And then there's this year - the first Christmas for another set of relatives (Martina and Margarida come to mind) without a near and dear one among them - whether it is a husband, a son or a brother... I know how you feel... +++ +++ +++ And EVERY Christmas, at least since the mid-1980s, that is, THE song that moves me the most remains the same one, as well it should be too:
It was a good time
to dream;
of adventure,
of dalliances,
of epic ramifications.
'Twas a good decade
to grow-up in;
to mature,
to nurture
oneself
and one's
inner self
as much as
the outlaw outward.
I only wish
I knew then
what I know now.
Ah, the things
I could have realized
with the opportunities
presented to me
during the hectic
eighties...
One can only
look back now -
bemused,
crestfallen,
maybe slightly
blasé too...
One can only
imagine
what could have been,
should have been...
now.
Alas...
For,
now,
it all seems
as though
it all went by
so fast -
too fast.
Almost as if
one only
imagined it all.
As if
it were all
but an illusion
this life
that we live...
LUMINOUS DISCLAIMER:
This site contains copyrighted material for which reprint permission has not always been authorized by the copyright owner. We make these available to merely REMINISCE! We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107.
The preceding shall apply also to any visual and audio material.
For more go here>
Born in the Age of Aquarius, destined to seek out truths in many an art form, trained as a historian and a journalist but truly a prose-lover... Luciano is out to dispel any clichés and reinvent them all both to the tune of a little something called the truth as also to his own image - and being old-fashioned, he does not mind that distinction one infinitesimal tiny bit at all...! "There are two ways to spread the light; be the candle... or the mirror that reflects It." I have chosen to be the latter... okay? ~*~
"To be not only a seeker of light... but a dream weaver of light" ~*~ For as surely as the moon reflects the light from the sun, you and I can reflect the Light from Above - and be, indeed, the light of this world! ~*~*~*~ NOTE: THERE ARE COOKIES ~ from at least three parties~ ON ALL OF MY BLOGS! ~*~ accept it!
