What was your favorite Christmas?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Mine was 1984. I was 24, and had moved from Louisville, KY to Atlanta, GA that summer to go to law school. My parents and 3 of my sisters still lived in Louisville. One sister had lived in Oklahoma for several years, and my brother had moved to California about the same time I moved to GA.

 When I moved to GA, I was desperately homesick.  I didn't know a soul in Atlanta (or GA, for that matter), and I had no idea how to get around the city.  Law school was very stressful during the first quarter, and I was very happy to have a 2-week break at Xmas.  It was the first time I had been away from "home", and it felt wonderful to go back.  

 My oldest sister, the Oklahoma one, is 12 years older than I am, and hadn't lived at home since 1966, and hadn't been home for Xmas since the early 70s.  But in 1984, we all managed to be at my parents' house for Xmas.  

My mom dug out every old "Santa and Me"  photo she could find (and with 6 kids, there were a bunch!).  All of us spent Xmas eve at my parents' house- the house I grew up in.  My 4-yr old niece was so excited about us all being there, anytime anyone asked her about Santa, she glossed over it and launched into a speech about how we were all "spending the night at Grammy's and Grumps'".  

 I don't remember any of the gifts I got that year, but I remember that it was the first time we'd all been under the same roof in over 10 years, and the last Xmas we all spent together.  We stayed up most of the night, and did Santa gifts for each other.  My parents were relatively young (late 50's) and healthy.  We probably won't all get to spend another Xmas together,  and every year I think of that last one and feel happy and sad at the same time.

 What was your favorite Christmas?
2

1991 or 1992. I was stationed at Tyndall AFB in Panama City, FL and had no family around, no one coming to visit and no money to visit them. The dorms were kind of deserted feeling and I was feeling lonely.

I went to the dayroom to watch TV and stopped on VH1. They were playing nothing but sad Christmas songs. I mean depressing Christmas songs. Leon Redbone singing Blue Christmas and such.

After a bit, a few other people showed up. We were mesmerized. We just sat there feeling so bad we couldn’t help but feel better.

Favorite Christmas.

3

Thus far, last year. My dad got me the leather-bound edition of the entire LOTR story, which I had not asked for specifically, because I had the paper back, divided editions, and didn’t really need another version. It was fantastic to know that my dad can still connect with my interest without my having to spell it out for him. It really made a difference.

4

The year my older brother gave me a brand new, tube feed, bolt-action, J.C. Whitney .22 cal rifle he bought from the Sears & Roebuck catalog. I still have it.

5

Oops. That should be J.C. Higgins, not “Whitney”.

6

9 years ago, on the 20th of December, the first grandchild was born in my family, my niece Ashlee Marie.

She came home on the 22nd and we took her to see Santa Clause at the mall. She was so tiny and cute bundled in her white. fluffy crocheted outfit and booties. Her parents were happier then than they are now. They are getting divorced and my brother will not get to see his girls (3) this Christmas.

But that Christmas was the sweetest for our family, as we gathered around her, cooing and dreaming of all the wonderful traditions we would get to share with her as a new member of our family.

7

When we were little, I was about 8 years old, we were desperately poor, I’m talking eat or pay the rent poor, and we had put our tree up, but we didn’t have any presents.
The tree was all lit up and decorated, but completely devoid of any presents underneath when we went to bed.
When we got up in the morning, three tiny boxes were underneath.
My ma had saved all year from her cheesy factory job and bought each of us a birthstone ring, 14k gold with a genuine birthstone.
She was so proud to have been able to do that. I don’t think I ever saw her so happy.

8

When I was a screwed-up kid (about 22 years old) I left home with a guy I knew and a half-grown puppy in a beat-up van coverted to a camper. We were heading for Portland, but the van threw a rod in Lake Tahoe and that was pretty much the end of the fun. We had no money, it was freezing cold, and neither of us felt we could call our parents for help. Finally I called my favorite aunt, in California, and she wired us money to take the Greyhound to her house. We packed what we could carry out of the van, asked the man at the gas station to please find a good home for the dog (he did, a fabulous one, actually) and set off for California.

Once there, my aunt (who is no one to trifle with) convinced my friend to call his gramma, who sent him money to get to her place in Washington. Then my aunt dialed my parents’ number and handed me the phone. As soon as I heard my Mom’s voice, I started to cry, and asked if I could come home. Of course, she said yes. Good old Auntie paid the ticket to bus me home.

I had a six hour lay-over in Salt Lake City about halfway home. I had cash money in my pocket that my aunt had given me. I walked from the greyhound station to downtown, bought Christmas presents for my family, and then gave all the rest (about $10) to a guy begging on the street. Just dumped a pile of money into his hand. I felt FANTASTIC.

I went into a bakery just to sniff, and the lady behind the counter cut me the hugest “sample” slice of christmas cake I have ever eaten. Cake in hand, I walked back to the bus station and got on the bus. Three hours later, my brother met me at the bus station in my hometown.

It was the best damn Christmas ever.
(Until I married Mr Look@hergo, who makes every day a slice of christmas cake.)

9

3 years ago. I had just met my now-husband the month before, so he and I each had plans with our respective families on Christmas itself. Luckily for me, his family lives a few blocks from where I was living at the time, so we made plans for him to come over that evening. I can remember how nervous and excited I felt waiting for 7:00 to roll around.
He showed up, we exchanged gifts, and then later he said to me, “I think I’m falling in love with you.”

Yup. That’s my best Christmas.

10

Christmas '88. I was a junior in high school, and it was our first year in Kansas. There wasn’t anything really spectacular about that Christmas, and in fact that was generally a pretty unhappy time in my life (being high school and all), but for some reason I just have really warm, happy memories of that day.

Among other things, it was the first white Christmas any of us except my stepfather had ever seen.

This one promises to be pretty good too, if I can ever get out of the freaking office. But not good in that Norman-Rockwell way; I’ve just got a good day planned with a dear friend, and it happens to be on Christmas (family are far away and I can’t go see them).

11

Well, now it’s this year. I got my dad the Indiana Jones DVD set and he LOVES it. Really made me happy to hear him giggling away at the computer screen as he watched them.

12

I guess my favorite Christmas was in 1973.

My father had died in 1966, and my mother never remarried. My mom also didn’t (still doesn’t) drive and so her parents had to do all the carting around, errands and anything else demanding transportation.

My father had left his old Cadillac (verrrry old) to her, but after my grandparents sold that they got a 1960-something Galaxie 500, which by 1973 was on its last tire. All the adults were worrying sick about having to buy a “new” car, as nobody but my granddaddy worked, and while we weren’t poor, a car was a huge chunk of money nobody had to shell out.

Anyway, Christmas day, my uncle (my mother’s brother) shows up about 2 hours early, a rarity for him, and was nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs. Bellowing every three minutes about “Where the hell are mama and daddy??”

My mother thought he was in a hurry to leave to go somewhere and told him basically to quit being so impatient and siddown and have a beer.

My grandparents finally got there and Uncle Buddy was bouncing off the walls…wanting everyone to hurry up and open the goddamn presents. He was starting to scare me and my sister.

Finally, it was my grandmother’s turn to receive his gift. Uncle Buddy starts grinning like a shit-eating 'possum and walks over to her…and hands her a shiny new set of keys.

Out in front of the house (conveniently hidden by the huge magnolia in the yard) was a beautiful, turquoise-blue 1971 Oldsmobile Delta 88! A land yacht!! Big enough for all of us to go cruising in at any given time! And it wasn’t old or falling apart! It even had a/c!

My grandmother began crying and going on and on about how he shouldn’t have done it. He told her to shut up and get in and drive her new car. I’ve never seen anyone so happy to give a gift as my uncle was that day as his mama hugged him and cried. Hell, we all cried.

It was a great day. The best Christmas ever.

13

I don’t usually quote whole posts, but I just wanted to say that your story made me tear up. I think that is the lovliest Christmas story I’ve ever heard.

14

My best Christmas ever was this one!

I’ve been involved with a nice girl for 7 months now and was really looking forward to giving her her gifts. She knew about one of them (some stuff from the bodyshop), had a fair idea about the second (some well-chosen sex toys) and had no idea about the third (double-pass to seaworld - she’s never been there before).

She was nothing short of delighted! She gave me some nice gifts (in fact, they seemed to complement what I’d given her, which is great) too.
Then I booked a night at a swanky hotel on the Gold Coast - the Radisson Resort. I got us a room with a garden and a spa.

We visited my mum for xmas lunch, where we were promptly fed and fed and fed some more until we were ready to burst!

Then we went to the hotel. The room itself was great, the room service was great, the company was great and the whole thing was really relaxing and just plain old fun!

Best. Christmas. Ever!

Max :smiley: