Happy Holidays 2011
A long long time ago… In a galaxy far far away… I’m talkin’ Christmas here in the 1950’s. That was a time before time before time when we didn’t have high speed internet, social networks, or On Demand TV with a thousand channels to watch. (We only had 3 on a very very good day.)
René meets Santa Claus in person, 1955…
It was so long ago we used a rotary dial phone and competed for the party line and that is not a political statement! There was no digital anything, we were heathens living in a primitive analog world. Yet, even then, we were happy. We couldn’t blog, text, post, message, or fax. There was only us huddled in the frontroom around the stove or fireplace in winter. We were simply blessed with 4 warm walls, a roof, wonderful food, and love.
Mom’s started planning the holidays in August because we’d only be able to communicate a half dozen times or so before Christmas using snail mail.
Christmas trees had real aluminum foil called “tinsel”, not that plastic shinny crap we see now days that kinda sorta looks like shinny aluminum. Stuff was real, it was made in Japan! Tree lights got hot and you had to be careful how you placed them correctly so you didn’t set the tree on fire (and don’t forget to put water in the stand), and ornaments were made of glass, easily broken and potentially dangerous, and they came without a warning. And we survived.
And funny, it was such a mystery that near Christmas, after dad had a little holiday cheer with friends and neighbors, Santa would show up! OMG!, my dad knows Santa! How cool is that!
René acquires his first truck, Christmas 1955. Uncle George in the background.
René and brother Steve get Christmas pajamas from Grandma & Grandpa Larson (1958).
I want to wish you all a wonderful holiday… I’ll step out and say my holiday is Christmas, yet the season includes us all. We all believe what we do and I honor it and bless you and your loved ones for your faith. That’s what is most important. Faith, that is!
I am simply who I am… (as Popeye would say, “I am who I am who I am who I am.”) and it’s true, I am so very blessed and no matter how much I intentionally or not mess up my life on this planet because I have a thick skull or I’m a slow learner or I duke it out with my ego or I fail to recognize the real thing. I have so many wonderful friends from all over this planet of every faith, color, creed, sex, race, denomination, and persuasion… and they hug me, love me, include me… And it never could have happened in any other time quite like this one…
Truly, that’s a blessing.
Happy Holiday’s my Friends, my loved one’s, my kindred spirits! You are loved and appreciated! May every blessing be yours in 2012.
A keepsake from Mom… one of my most treasured possessions. A simple little cardboard decorated Christmas ornament. It has a round hole in back to stick a Christmas Tree light in so it lights up, from the early 1950’s. Somehow it survived all these years. To me, it’s priceless! On the back, it’s hand ink stamped, Made in Japan.
