Category: Family

When I got a funny little windup figure of Popeye one Christmas, it made quite an impression on me. I cannot remember more than three or four gifts throughout my entire childhood, but Popeye is one of those. The little tin man stood about five inches tall, and he had the typical Popeye look complete with one eye shut, a pipe in his mouth and oversized muscles that symbolized his strength. I have wondered many times over as to why I remember the funny little character. There is no remembrance of anything else that I got that Christmas, but I know that we opened our gifts on Christmas Eve, preparing to leave the next morning to go to my grandparents’ home in Puryear, Tennessee. Trips to Mother and Daddy Morgan’s did not happen very often, and the memories of those visits are uniquely their’s.

Although it is not associated with Christmas, I can still smell the reddish bars of Lifebuoy soap that were always in the “bathhouse”. There was an outbuilding in the backyard that had one room especially arranged with a number three washtub and all the things necessary for a sitdown bath. The clean, fresh smell of Lifebuoy permeated that whole shed. I don’t know what we did about bathing when it was cold weather, but I enjoyed my baths in that little neat room.

Another smell that was an all year round smell was that of homemade rolls. Mother Morgan seemed to specialize in making wonderful rolls, but for Christmas, I also remember her homemade fruit cakes. Other smells of Christmas were those of nice juicy oranges and apples, and peppermint candy (not canes, but long fat rolls of it!)

It seemed we were not limited as to how much fruit we could have…. and then… there were always nuts. We didn’t need to crack nuts open by putting one down on a rock and smashing it and our finger with another, nor did we have to use a hammer. Mother Morgan had a tool called a nutcracker that was so much easier than our methods, and our fingers were certainly safer.

Even a dusting of snow didn’t keep my cousins and me from playing out as much as we wished. We felt the joy that only children are capable of feeling, before the burdens of adulthood have dulled the senses of magic.

Could it be that the expectations of going to my grandparents’ house was what made the little tin man memorable?

A few years later, my two younger brothers and I were held as hostages in the kitchen, while our two older sisters made us believe that we could hear sleigh bells ringing and the hoofbeats of Santa’s reindeer on the rooftop. We remained there just long enough for Santa to leave our presents, and then we were allowed to go into the living room and open them. I remember getting a pencil box and some other odds and ends for school, and I remember being pleased with what I got.

It was Christmas Eve! We must be going to Tennessee again! Was it this glorious thought that put the magic in that Christmas, or was it the mystery that my sisters played out in the kitchen that evening as we anticipated a visit from the traditional jolly old man of the season? I think they were equally responsible. The small family unit worked together to provide the mystical joys, traditional to the season, in the privacy of our modest home, and it was the love of the extended family that brought special joys because we belonged.

This story of Christmas would not be complete without telling about one really special gift that I got from an aunt and uncle of mine who lived in Tennessee. They had learned that I did not have a baby doll, and when they gave me one, I was enormously touched. I immediately named it Robbie Joe. The next thing that I did was very important to me, and I am thankful that my dad understood and helped me with it. I had a dollar, and I wanted to give that dollar to Uncle Joe and Aunt Robbie. Whatever they thought of the transaction, I don’t know, but they accepted it graciously, and I felt really good. That doll was my treasure for a long time.

The Christmas pageant I referred to in my last article referred to my part as an angel, in which I recited, “Inasmuch as ye have done it to the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” Giving to those in need is a good activity for any season. May your Christmas be a joyous, happy event!

Feeling the magic of Christmas or any other family togetherness is a blessing due all children. The security and love within a family that exhibits God’s love among themselves and others will make longer lasting memories than could ever develop from a gift under a tree.

This is a reprint from the Cotton Patch (2000) Written by Jo Redding and talking about her father who was born in the year 1900.

If my father had lived until January first of this year, he would have welcomed in the new millenium 2000 A.D with a passion. Having been born August 1, 1900, he could have seen, except for a few months, the entire twentieth century. That would have been exciting!

If Dad were here today, he would delight in telling everyone what tremendous changes had occurred in his lifetime. Concerning the first quarter of the century, he would recall how horses, horse-drawn carriages and trains slowly gave way to automobiles, so that by the late twenties, many families owned their own cars.

Change begets change. Rough, muddy streets were not as easily traveled on in the newfangled vehicles as they had been with horses, and poor pedestrians and onlookers were subjected to more dust or mud being stirred up and slung at them by fast rotating wheels. Streets needed to be changed to harder smoother surfaces and sidewalks became a necessity for the comfort and safety of shoppers walking about town. As more and more families began to travel together, women’s clothing had to slim down to allow room for everyone to fit into their vehicle and so ruffles, bustles and hoop skirts gave way to slimmer styles of the “flapper” era.

Dramatic changes resulted from everyone having their own automobile, but during the second quarter when electricity became available to rural Americans, the door was wide open to a variety of new experiences. Electric lights, stoves, refrigerators, washing machines, sewing machines and radios became standard items in a household. Following that came record players, tape recorders, typewriters, etc., and in the late forties TV antennae began to adorn the roof tops of city homes.

Of all the electrical gadgets that developed during those years, TV has been the most controversial and yet it has influenced our lifestyles considerably. From active, creative, outdoor recreation to sedate, passive indoor entertainment. Indoor, interactive family fun with games such as Monopoly, Tiddlywinks, Checkers, Bingo, Old Maid, Dominoes, jigsaw puzzles, charades, plays and skits (made up on the spot), singing, story telling and readings have been laid aside while the TV does the entertaining of its passive living room audiences who interact very little among themselves.

My parents had a TV, and I know they enjoyed being in touch with what was happening in the news and weather. Although I had moved away by then, I can imagine them enjoying the Lawrence Welk show and Red Skelton. Mom would have loved historical novels and Dad would have kept up with political issues. He was a true patriot of our country and always said he enjoyed paying taxes! He knew that without them his schools would suffer from lack of funds, and he realized how much we all enjoy good roads and public facilities that make life easier. He certainly made good use of the government-owned TVA lakes in northern Alabama where fishing became one of his greatest passions.

Dad was very interested in science, history, geography and math, and as I make this statement, I recall that he held a high regard for the disciplines of English and literature as well. Perhaps being the dedicated teacher that he was, he developed an interest in all areas that could provide him with knowledge that he considered important to the many students he hoped to influence.

Since his death in the early seventies, the standards for TV shows has changed tremendously. Dad would lament over the fact that immorality is displayed so unashamedly; in fact he would be very vocal about it. He would be saddened to tears at the perversion of love as it is portrayed in the lyrics of popular songs and in movies. So much of what he tried to teach in schools and churches would be lost in the flood of publicity that seems to laud the greed, lust and selfishness of human beings without a God. His patriotic emotions for his country would have been crushed by the immoral acts of our president and by the fact that his behavior got a mere “slap on the wrist.”

Except for mainframes and punch cards, computers were unheard of when Dad died. Had he lived to see PC’s in every school and home, he would see them as tools of education and be delighted at the opportunities they could provide. Upon further investigation, he would become dismayed by the availability of smut and pornography via e-mail and chat rooms as well as entire web sites. He would be torn in his judgement: “Does the good outweigh the bad?” He would not deny the use of computers or TV or anything that has such a great potential for education, but he would increase his efforts to teach right from wrong. He would impress on individuals the importance of maintaining their own integrity whether anyone else around them did so or not.

I believe this represents how Dad would have perceived a century of changes if he could have spoken to us on August 1, 2000 A.D.