Four Mile Post December 2011

MERRY CHRISTMAS

I was talking to a couple of boys recently asking them what kind of gifts they expected for Christmas. They each told me their hopes and dreams for this electronic gadget or that. It brought back some memories of my own childhood when I waited with anticipation what treasures my stocking might hold. I was secretly hoping and even praying for a toy gun, a flashlight, a toy car, or, oh wonder of wonders - a stagecoach complete with horses and  riders! I never got what I wanted. Instead, I usually got some clothes – a hand-knit sweater, hand-knit woolen socks (itchy - scratchy), hand-made pants that I was embarrassed to wear in front of my friends who all had store-bought clothing. It wasn’t until much later in my life that I remembered how tediously my mother worked to produce these items, sometimes for months on end.

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