Your BEST Christmas ever?

OK, so the festivities are over...



Today is a rainy day. Perfect for visiting "blogland". (The 'best Christmas ever' was certainly not yesterday for me...Let's just say that when I get a chance to ask the Apostle Paul what his thorn in the flesh was, I won't be at all suprized if he answers, "Migraines"!)

Anyway, I was just sitting here thinking about the best Christmas I can remember as a child. (They were ALL good when Lauren was a child and I could enjoy them through her eyes.)

My best Christmas memory is as follows...I was in the 5th grade and all I wanted for Christmas was this:





I remember asking my Mom for it weeks in advance. She wouldn't say, "yea or nay" for awhile. Then one day, she told me something to the effect of, "Sue, farming didn't go very well this year and we just don't think we can afford to get you the chord organ for Christmas." I was disappointed, but surprizingly, for an only child, I think I took it WELL! Totally understood.

Fast forward to that Christmas Eve, which is when we celebrated Christmas. We lived with my grandparents and so my aunt and uncle and their 3 kids all celebrated Christmas with us on Christmas Eve. I remember, as a younger child, after dinner, the "women" would be cleaning up the dishes while the "men" took us kids out in the car to look for Santa Claus. Funny, how every year, he managed to sneak in without the "women" hearing him! When we got back (after spotting him way up in the skies some years, and some years, not) there would be a HUGE mound of presents under the tree. A kids' PARADISE!!!

Well, this one particular Christmas, a great time was enjoyed by all. I wasn't slighted at all, in the gift department! So what awaited me was a complete shock and wonderful surprise.

Yeah, you guessed it. After all the gifts were opened and we were pretty much winding down from the excitement, my Mom said, "Sue, go comb your hair. We are going to take pictures." (Unlike the digital age we live in now, pictures back then had to be staged...You couldn't just delete pictures like today...film and flashbulbs were too precious to waste. Anybody remember these?)









So, I dutifully went to my room to comb my hair and there, sitting on my bed, was the "Red Ryder" gift for me that year...my "Magnus Chord Organ"! That Christmas will always be remembered by me as "the best one ever"!

Thanks for strolling down memory lane with me. I wish I hadn't lost (STILL hoping they are just "misplaced" somewhere!!!) my childhood pictures in our last move. I would love to share the photo of that gift.

Here is an ironic part. At growth group last week, my friend Betty brought her portable keyboard to small group and this topic came up then. Then, later on in the week, I stopped in at Goodwill and there was a "Magnus Chord Organ" for sale in there. Looked like it was in good shape, but I was in such a hurry (ONE evening of Christmas shopping doesn't leave a whole lot of time) that I didn't try it out. Now I kinda wished I had...