A Fun Upcoming Event

Will be signing copies of all my books on July 25th at the Circle Drive-In in Dickson City, PA for Christmas in July. The event benefits the Lackawanna Historical Society.

For Your Christmas Shopping Convenience

Get copies of one or all on Amazon

 
 

Christmas Memories Part 2....Doing Santa's Work

Christmas was always special when I was growing up. We were always up before dawn to see what Santa had brought us. I truly believed in him. Once, I even thought I heard the hooves of reindeer tapping on the roof of our house while Santa was making his delivery.

One year, one of the presents I received was a multiple level gas station/ parking garage in which you could drive and park and pretend to work on your matchbox cars. My sister was receiving something called the “Imagination Dollhouse”. Both had “some assembly required,” somewhere in excess of a gazillion pieces.

My sister and I were sound asleep in bed, which we knew was important, because Santa wouldn’t come if we were awake. Mom and Dad were getting out the hidden presents and the toys that needed assembly when the Grinch decided to pay a visit in the form of a house fire. The Plectron went off and so did my father, leaving Mom to finish putting the presents under the tree, and more importantly, begin the toy assembly.

Dad barely made it back before we woke up that Christmas morning. As usual, we were wide-eyed and thrilled with everything Santa had brought.

Years later, in the post-Santa period, Mom would regularly retell the story of that Christmas Eve, complete with uproarious laughter as she described the “millions of pieces necessary” to assemble the toys that year. She stayed up all night, the elf completing Santa’s work.

An excerpt from Fire Men: Stories From Three Generations of a Firefighting Family

You Might be a Firefighter if....Christmas Memories Part 1

A memory of Christmas or....you might be a firefighter if you wear the needles off the Christmas tree making sure the lights haven't overheated and dried out the branches....

I smile this time of year recalling Dad's compulsion with regards to our Christmas tree. The tree stand was topped off with water more frequently than a cup of coffee in a diner. The amount of time the lights were on was carefully managed during the evening; and he regularly bounced from his chair to check the temperature of the branches exposed by the colorful bulbs.

With the amount of time he spent feeling the tree, it was a wonder it retained any needles at all by Christmas Day. No one was happier about the acquisition of an artificial tree than Mom as she could finally leave the lights on for more than fifteen minutes at a time....