Christmas Memories
I remember Christmas when it was really Christmas and Santa left the presents. When three young boys peeked around the railing on the landing of the stairs'. There before us, in the false dawn of a snowy morning, was an array of wrapped presents so magnificent that it was a wonder our hearts didn't explode. Not that many times in my life did my heart react that way. After puberty, it always had to do with a young girl. And like the promise of all those presents, the heart settled down after realizing it wasn't all for me. Until I met my wife, that is! All the presents under and around the tree were for me and my two brothers and two sisters. There was usually a lone, fully assembled bicycle w/o wrapping but with a Christmas bow and a note from Santa. Almost yearly if the mill hadn't been on strike for part of the year. One step forward and two steps back. I don't believe we bum rushed the pile of presents. If we had gone down at all we w...