"A Christmas Memory" for PINK SATURDAY....

Happy Pink Saturday to You All!.....Today is very special, since it is the first Pink Saturday that our ingenious hostess, Beverly at "How Sweet The Sound" has asked us to post about a wonderful "Chrismas memory".

Like many of you, I have dozens of happy memories of Christmases past. However, it is not really one particular happening that I remember, but instead the incredibly sweet Christmas mornings my mother created for my sister & I.

It was just the three of us, my mother & us two little girls....We had very little money, but I never felt poor. I remember listening as our mother stayed up till the wee hours of the morning wrapping gifts, .....& doing all the "Santa" things, that good parents do.....not that my sister & I ever found out!....I remember laying in bed, thinking that she had better finish & get to bed too or Santa would never come!

When morning came, it was simply magical. My mother was always up, the tree lights were on, candles were lit & hot chocolate was already prepared!......We grew up in Spokane, Washington, where Christmas Day was almost always snowy, with dark grey skies above. My mother did everything she could to make us true believers in St. Nick!....The wrapping paper was a design we had never seen, the candy we received in our stockings, was not from the grocery store, but confections only seen at Christmas time!.....And even though each & every year my mother would prepare us to not expect too much under the tree, to me & my sister it seemed like a wonderland of gifts!...

In order to give this effect, mom again was "genius"!...She would purchase one Barbie doll outfit, but would take out the dress, hat & shoes & then rewrap it all, each piece individually, usually in either white tissue or tulle with tiny bits of pretty ribbon!....One gift became three & unwrapping each was a delight!.....We usually received a beautiful doll of somekind, and then a separate box filled with handmade clothes....a dress, a coat & always a nightie!....Invariably we both would also receive a hardback book, mine almost always a "Little House" book, which I adored....as well as somekind of clothing and maybe a piece of jewelry!.....Always things that I had no doubt were made by fairies & elves!.....

My mother was, & still is someone who believes Christmas gifts should be exquisite!...but not having lots of money, lots of creativity instead was called upon!....Much was sewn, but each & ever gift was lovely....a pair of undies, was lace-trimmed, a bracelet had lots of sparkle & a tiny box of chocolate was always the finest quality. It created an enchanting atmosphere that I have tried hard to continue with our girls & now my grandson. Christmas Day is a day like no other,....one that is above all a religious celebration, but also a day that should remain one that amazes & mystifies children. It should reassure children that "Santa, reindeer & elves" are real & that "believing" is a right of all children, no matter what age they have grown to be.

So in closing, I remember the magic Christmas mornings that my mother gave to us each year.....I feel so fortunate to have been brought up in a home where "Fairy Tales & Santa Claus" really do exist!.......Merry Christmas!......Heidi XO