Jonathon and I finished putting out the Christmas Decorations. Each year when we do so…it seems that it was but a short time since we had placed them back in the Christmas Closet. I remember with great joy MJ and my careful placement of the new Nativity scene in a place of prominence in our little four-room house in Elkville, Illinois…for Aaron’s First Christmas. Christmas 1981 was a special time…we were parents…and I had searched the bungalow for the instruction manual for New Parents… The Nativity was handmade and hand-painted and it was like nothing that we had ever laid our eyes upon. In those halcyon days of our local University Mall…it was literally full of patrons and Christmas Kiosks and Holiday revilers. When we found our Nativity…we knew we were on the road to a bright parenting future… Along with the Nativity we purchased a six-foot Christmas Tree and all of the ornaments to rest upon it…many at the DuQuoin Walmart. Nothing would do for us but to buy Aaron all manner of age-appropriate toys…Fischer Price and more…but he enjoyed nothing more than the wind-up swing that he swung in for hours on end…especially at night…when he…and thus we…could not sleep.

Of the few photos that I have of my early childhood in Chicago…there is one of me sitting between my mom and dad…under an enormous Christmas Tree. The picture illustrates our holiday cheer and mom is decked out in her slacks and a Christmas Blouse with her ever-present red lipstick… Dad looks quite happy and content as the breadwinner and provider for our Holiday Revelry. I am about 3…and I remember the Christmas Photo being snapped. That Chicago Christmas was magical…as seen through the eyes of a 3-year-old. My favorite gift that year was Laughing Santa. He was a little Santa with a crank protruding out of his back that when you turned it…he laughed the most unique laugh. Laughing Santa’s annual appearance through the ongoing Christmases resulted in my affinity for the Jolly Old Elf…to this day.

Teddy Ruxpin Christmas was special in remembering the short life of Mr. Ruxpin. Jonathon had asked for the Talking Teddy Bear…Teddy Ruxpin for some time. MJ and I were so pleased that we had one for him to open on Christmas Morning. When he saw the mysterious bear who could talk and his mouth moved to illustrate that he was really saying the words that were on the cassettes tape that fit in a player in his back…he was mesmerized… Teddy was the height of 1980’s technology. As we sat enjoying our Christmas Wassail…Jonathon entered with a question…why wouldn’t Teddy Talk? In an effort to cause Mr. Ruxpin to speak more rapidly…Jonathon had accidentally removed his lower lip…