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Christmas past

G

gail2

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
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every year i take some time on Christmas Day to remember those who are no longer with us. My Uncle Harry a kind dear man who was Christmass spirit. My Aunty Joyce who for every guest who came to hers would treat them like a King. My mum who i miss every day. I rember past Christmas days with her despite not having much money brought me up in luxury we might not have much but there was allways food on the table and aboue all everlasting love. One xmas she got me a red bike i dontGo know how she afforded it but she did. I must have been about 7, the first thing i did was rush outside on it and spent time going up and down the street, such was my happyness . So xmas day i shall raise a glass to them God bless you all and have a safe xmas
 
Hi Gail, yep its deffo a time for reflection and appreciation for we have/had, and for recalling those fond and happy memories......
 
gail2 said:
every year i take some time on Christmas Day to remember those who are no longer with us. My Uncle Harry a kind dear man who was Christmass spirit. My Aunty Joyce who for every guest who came to hers would treat them like a King. My mum who i miss every day. I rember past Christmas days with her despite not having much money brought me up in luxury we might not have much but there was allways food on the table and aboue all everlasting love. One xmas she got me a red bike i dontGo know how she afforded it but she did. I must have been about 7, the first thing i did was rush outside on it and spent time going up and down the street, such was my happyness . So xmas day i shall raise a glass to them God bless you all and have a safe xmas
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My mam loved Christmas, she passed 3 years ago and Christmas is not the same without her, my dad on the other hand was the grinch but could do no wrong, as I was always a daddy’s girl. Miss them everyday but especially at Christmas
 
Here is a very sentimental song about this very subject. My mum died a couple of years ago and she did her best to make Christmases special when my brothers and I were growing up.

 
Living on a busy road in London I miss seeing kiddies on their new bikes on Christmas day. Anybody remember the Mobo horse?
 
Yeah, saw one when we went to Brum to see Father Xmas in Lewis's. 1956/7? Don't think I knew anyone who had one though. Ones mama had delusions of grandeur and she was NOT allowing her girls to have nasty cheap tin things like Mobo made. They weren't either cheap or nasty as it happens but neither parent subscribed to consumerism whatsoever. Found out at least 2 decades later it was a lot more to do with lack of money - but essential to keep appearances up!
 
I remember those horses. Our families never bought them but they seemed to turn up, looking slightly worn, presumably after better off kids had outgrown them. They had limited entertainment value really as their means of propulsion was really quite inefficient.

We have a full sized Victorian style rocking horse that Liz and I built from a kit which is much more impressive. It lives in the bay window and gets pulled out when younger family members come to visit.
 
I remember Christmas's well as a child, then as a teenager and all the parties (best not dwell on the parties too much), then with my own children and all the fun watching them open their presents.

Now it's just me and Mrs Alan, but we still know how to enjoy Christmas, with friends popping in, or just sitting in front of the fire watching a good film.

PS, the dogs get more presents than we do :D
 
Snow! Loads of the Xmas songs reference snow. Presumably in some parts of the world they have snow at Xmas on a regular basis, in the UK less so. If it does snow it is more likely to be in January and February. I have a clear memory of it snowing on Boxing Day. It was our traditional day for going to maternal grandparents house. The snow started late afternoon and looked as though it might get bad for our seven mile drive home down country roads. The next morning I stood watching the huge flakes tumbling from my bedroom window.
 
Merluza said:
Anybody remember the Mobo horse?
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Just googled it. & my mum had one in the garden of the old house. Very faded collapsing white horse red saddle? (From what I can make of it.) Could have been my eldest sister’s from the date they were made. Could have been a gift from our grandparents back in the day? Way before my time. Had plants growing over it. & got skipped when I cleared the place out for sale. Lol, I do remember the kids in the late 70s early 1980s on new roller skates or skateboards splashing through puddles on a wet Christmas Day thinking you’re going to wash the lube out the bearings & seize them up? I remember paper chain link criss crossing the room that kept falling down. & a fake tree that we allowed my little sister put the angel on top. Which was silly, because she was never tall enough. 🙂
 
Merluza said:
Living on a busy road in London I miss seeing kiddies on their new bikes on Christmas day. Anybody remember the Mobo horse?
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Yes! I had one - he was called Charlie. Just spotted a similar one on eBay for £320! I no longer have him though, unlike the teddy bear won by my grandma in a Christmas raffle the year I was born, still sitting on my landing 73 years later but most definitely not for sale.
 
Chain link streamers, I can remember making those in infant school. We had squares of coloured paper with sticky on the back like stamps. We cut them into three strips and made chains by licking them and linking them together.

Artificial Xmas trees. My wife and I first got together in November 1991 so I was still the new boyfriend when our first Xmas together came round. Her parents are fairly comfortably off but one of their little eccentricities was getting somewhat attached to old stuff that had been in the family for years. In a private moment I mentioned to new girlfriend that I was slightly bemused by their rather small and totally threadbare Xmas tree. I don't know if it was my influence that lead her to take her Mum out just before the following Xmas to buy a new tree.
 
Chris Hobson said:
Chain link streamers, I can remember making those in infant school. We had squares of coloured paper with sticky on the back like stamps. We cut them into three strips and made chains by licking them and linking them together.

Artificial Xmas trees. My wife and I first got together in November 1991 so I was still the new boyfriend when our first Xmas together came round. Her parents are fairly comfortably off but one of their little eccentricities was getting somewhat attached to old stuff that had been in the family for years. In a private moment I mentioned to new girlfriend that I was slightly bemused by their rather small and totally threadbare Xmas tree. I don't know if it was my influence that lead her to take her Mum out just before the following Xmas to buy a new tree.
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My wife & I don’t have trees of any sort. Just lights & a bit of tinsel. We do have a stand for a real tree & got one just once. lol, it’s just a hassle at the end of the season cleaning up & disposing of one. Sooner see them growing. My older sister always did real trees. So did my in-laws. I’m bemused by the “Kitsch” of it. Each has their values & tradition. My wife used to enjoy tracking Santa on an iPad with my little sister’s kid. It is what it is for me. Time off work. (& some sort of senseless manic push leading upto it for the privilege.)
Let’s give an actual thought to those who actually work & provide a service. Some of which are life’s savers over the period.

 
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Our tree is a big fibre optic one, we've had it for a long time. I think these trees are probably a bit passe now, the trend in artificial trees now is to make them more realistic. Mum and Dad used to have real ones when we were kids but got a fake one later. LED fairy lights are much cheaper and more reliable than the old incandescent ones were so you can have lots of lights.

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I set the tree up today and found that the bulb had blown in the base. This is the bulb that lights up the optic fibres. The original bulb lasted for years and then last year we had to replace two. I had to go for a jaunt to Hornsea Freeport to get a replacement, I got a pack of six for a quid. The bulbs are a bit of a performance to change as the base has to be partly dismantled.
 
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We always raise a glass to those gone before eating christmas dinner @gail2 , you can't help but remember Christmas's past with those we loved.
 
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