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:
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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!
