LJ IDOL TOPIC 1: "MY FAVORITE 'CHILDHOOD' MEMORY"
When I was about in second grade, we lived in an apartment in Columbus, Ohio. The apartment had two bedrooms and a bath on the second floor, a living space, kitchen area on the first floor and a basement that my parents used as storage. I shared a bedroom with my younger brother who was 3 years younger than me. My mom worked as a computer operator, while my dad attended OSU for his Masters degree. Every holiday, my parents would put my brother and I in the car and drive us 2 hours to Grove City, PA to visit my Grandparents and Great Grandparents.
This particular Christmas was different, however. Imagine the disappointment a 2nd grader feels when he finds out that he's not going to be spending Christmas at home. I distinctly remember telling my parents that they could go without me, and that I'd wait at home for Santa to come and visit so I could open the presents first thing Christmas morning. I mean, how in the world was Santa going to find us at Grandma and Grandpa's house? It took forever for us to get to my grandparents house and it was so far away!
"How will Santa know where we are?" I asked my mom.
"We'll leave a note.. " she calmly replied. So my mom and I sat down to write a note to Santa. The note apologized to Santa for not being home on Christmas, but informed him that we would be staying at my grandparents instead. We left the note on the kitchen table, loaded our luggage into the car and off we went.
I was worried. I was sure that Santa would somehow skip over us because we weren't at home.
Christmas eve came, we attended church as we always did, Hung stockings by the fireplace and Grandpa read 'twas a night before Christmas'. Eventually, I fell asleep.
My grandmother woke me up the next morning. "Wake up... Time to get up!"
I didn't move very fast. I wandered into the living room, where the stockings and Christmas tree were. The room had changed dramatically from the night before. The stockings we hung, the night before now were filled to capacity. The tree now was buried in silver tinsel and candy canes. Presents overflowed from underneath the tree. Cookies were half eaten, and the milk in the kitchen was gone.
I was completely amazed. Not only had Santa come, but he had found us in Grove City. We spent the rest of Christmas weekend visiting other relatives, my other Grandparents and my Great Grandparents. When it came time to go home, we gave my grandparents hugs and kisses, loaded everything up in the car and drove the 2+ hours home to Columbus.
When we arrived home, we found a note from Santa! It was written on the back of the note we wrote him.
"Thanks for the note and cookies. I hope you had a safe trip.
Merry Christmas, Santa
P.S. I left you something else in the basement."
My brother and I ran into the basement.. and found a completely assembled miniature train set! We spent hours playing with that train set.. playing with the whistle, changing tracks to make it go on an inner loop rather than the outer loop and making the train go up and over the bridge. I plainly remember that the train set wasn't there before we left. And I still wonder to this day how it got assembled while we were away visiting grandpa and grandma.
I think what endears me to this memory and makes it my favorite memory is how my parents helped me to believe in Santa Claus. There is something magical about a child's imagination.. and a child's hopes and dreams. Discovering that train set in the basement, has kept the child in me alive for a very long time.
This particular Christmas was different, however. Imagine the disappointment a 2nd grader feels when he finds out that he's not going to be spending Christmas at home. I distinctly remember telling my parents that they could go without me, and that I'd wait at home for Santa to come and visit so I could open the presents first thing Christmas morning. I mean, how in the world was Santa going to find us at Grandma and Grandpa's house? It took forever for us to get to my grandparents house and it was so far away!
"How will Santa know where we are?" I asked my mom.
"We'll leave a note.. " she calmly replied. So my mom and I sat down to write a note to Santa. The note apologized to Santa for not being home on Christmas, but informed him that we would be staying at my grandparents instead. We left the note on the kitchen table, loaded our luggage into the car and off we went.
I was worried. I was sure that Santa would somehow skip over us because we weren't at home.
Christmas eve came, we attended church as we always did, Hung stockings by the fireplace and Grandpa read 'twas a night before Christmas'. Eventually, I fell asleep.
My grandmother woke me up the next morning. "Wake up... Time to get up!"
I didn't move very fast. I wandered into the living room, where the stockings and Christmas tree were. The room had changed dramatically from the night before. The stockings we hung, the night before now were filled to capacity. The tree now was buried in silver tinsel and candy canes. Presents overflowed from underneath the tree. Cookies were half eaten, and the milk in the kitchen was gone.
I was completely amazed. Not only had Santa come, but he had found us in Grove City. We spent the rest of Christmas weekend visiting other relatives, my other Grandparents and my Great Grandparents. When it came time to go home, we gave my grandparents hugs and kisses, loaded everything up in the car and drove the 2+ hours home to Columbus.
When we arrived home, we found a note from Santa! It was written on the back of the note we wrote him.
"Thanks for the note and cookies. I hope you had a safe trip.
Merry Christmas, Santa
P.S. I left you something else in the basement."
My brother and I ran into the basement.. and found a completely assembled miniature train set! We spent hours playing with that train set.. playing with the whistle, changing tracks to make it go on an inner loop rather than the outer loop and making the train go up and over the bridge. I plainly remember that the train set wasn't there before we left. And I still wonder to this day how it got assembled while we were away visiting grandpa and grandma.
I think what endears me to this memory and makes it my favorite memory is how my parents helped me to believe in Santa Claus. There is something magical about a child's imagination.. and a child's hopes and dreams. Discovering that train set in the basement, has kept the child in me alive for a very long time.