decky

My mom always made oyster stew for Christmas eve. We would have to wait until my dad got home from work which was midnight, needless to say I was always sleeping when he got home. I didn't like eating the oysters but the broth was wonderful.

Pat in MN

cizzors

The smell of vinyl-it meant I got a new baby doll.

sassey

I lovedbeing in the Christmas play at my church and the sack of candy and nuts we got afterwords also caroling to the shut ins and nursing homes

Suze9395

Going out to the tree farm and searching for the perfect tree.
We didn't have much growing up. Christmas came to the house in the trunk of my grandparents Buick. Fudge. Candy. Cookies. And the presents! All that pretty paper and ribbons! We couldn't wait for gramma and grandpa to get there. Getting up on Christmas morning and going in the living room and finding grandpa still in the sofa bed wearing a nightshirt and a nightcap (Santa kind of style). I miss them...the love.

Jackie Spencer

The year I got my life size Horseman baby Doll. She's sitting on my bed right now, 52 years later. My most special Christmas was in 1974, I brought my youngest daughter home from the hospital that morning, she was 6 weeks early. The nurses had put her in a large Christmas Stocking, we took her home and layed her under the tree and took her picture. I had a 3 year old and a 10 month old, yes I had 2 babies in one year, 10 months apart. It was a wonderful Christmas!

QuiltedCello

Best so far - four years ago, I just got in on Christmas at 5:07 am to brother's new place with brother's dog who had stayed with me. I snuck Pablo up to nephew's room, and put him on the bed. Best reunion ever, and nephew and I went downstairs, made hot chocolate, threw Pablo's ball for an hour outside, came in, dried kid and pup off, made breakfast for us children, ate, made breakfast for brother and SIL, started coffee and then got them up at 8 am. Nephew never even noticed Santa had brought him a new bike, he had his puppy back and that was more important.

alleyoop1

When I was six - back in the "olden" days - my dad had a heart attack and was out of work for a long time. Our neighbors and some of dad's co-workers brought us Christmas gifts. No one had ever given us Christmas gifts before that. I remember that Christmas mostly above all my other childhood Christmas memories and I remember the gifts I received that year.

nancyw

The year I got a can of black olives just for me.

Retired Fire Chief

I love reading all of the remembrances. I can't think of one special Christmas because my parents made every Christmas special. Each Christmas eve we went to Grandma's (mom's mom) with all the other family - total about 40! Each family brought something to eat, Grandpa and the dad's would sit around the kitchen table playing penuckle (a card game I don't know how to play or spell!), Grandma and the moms would be in the living room and the kids were everywhere. Then we would all go off to church for the 11 pm service. After church daddy would take us for a ride to see Christmas lights because we couldn't go home right away because we didn't want to disturb Santa if he were there. When we did get home we had to wait in the car so daddy could go in to see if Santa was there - it was magical, we thought dad and Santa had a connection so daddy wouldn't scare him if he were in the house. We would wait impatiently in the car and finally see daddy turn on the lights to the Christmas tree and soon after open the door and say it was ok to come in. Santa had been there! I think I believed in Santa until I was about 13 because Santa always came while we were at church. My cousin finally told me that it was my dad, I argued it wasn't and she told me that she was my dad slip away from the card game in the kitchen, put on his coat and slip out the back door only to come back later. She broke my heart, I probably would have believed until I was 16!

QltrSue

I remember the good smells...walking into my Aunt's house to smell the turkey in the oven...my Aunt's Chantilly perfume...cinnamon...the warm "Christmas tree" smell...and laying with my head under the tree, looking up through the branches at all the colored lights and sparkling ornaments (I was smaller then, lol!!). What a magical time!