I’m a December baby, born on my mother’s 20th birthday. Christmas time was always special to me and my mother. There were many years where the family tradition was to go out and get the real Christmas tree on my and mom’s birthday. There were the years in little Bushnell, Illinois, when every holiday season mom would take us on a late afternoon drive to look at the Christmas lights folks had displayed all over town.
Christmas in our family of five usually lasted basically one day. But the Christmas of 1975 was different.
My father had been in the hospital recovering from back surgery. Traditionally we (me, my two younger sisters, and my parents) would get up at or before the crack of dawn to open presents. But on this particular Christmas, we spread the holiday out over several days. We had Christmas with dad in the hospital on Christmas Eve, and again on Christmas Day. Then we continued to celebrate the day after Christmas when dad finally made it home. So we had three days of Christmas. Kind of nice and a special memory.
Christmas of 1990 was special for a couple reasons. I had recently been promoted to general manager of the Lenscrafters in Champagne, Illinois. Even though I was at base salary for the position, it was more money than I had ever made. With all that new disposable income, I was in a position to do Christmas the way I had always wanted for my family. I could afford to get them decent stuff for a change.
The other reason 1990 stands out is because it was the first Christmas with grandchildren in the family! My nephew Jordan was 6 months old and my first niece Jessica arrived the next day, Dec. 26, 1990.
The Christmases of 98-99 are among those which stand out as having been particularly fun as I was director of music and other special programs and events at a church of about 500 members back in Peoria, Illinois. In a sense, I was responsible for delivering Christmas for 500 people! And I loved every minute of it.
Each Sunday evening of advent featured a meal and some kind of special program. My favorite without question was the first Sunday (and Saturday) of the season when we held our madrigal dinners.
What is a madrigal dinner you might ask? A madrigal dinner typically consists of a small choral ensemble performing renaissance-period Christmas music while guests dine on a medieval feast. A short play may also be a part of the performance. But in our case, given the riches of thespian talent at our disposal, we went for broke and did full blown dinner theater. It was a resounding success! Among my proudest achievements. I made people laugh. I made them happy.
Christmas of 2006 was my first Christmas with my dear friend Alice. Alice grew up somewhat disadvantaged and I wanted to do Christmas and birthday right for her. She got everything she asked for and more. I so enjoyed watching her open gift after gift. It is one of the most fun Christmas mornings I can remember.
As for Christmas present, I’m still inspired by the music and the memories. And the decorations, oh how I love the decorations! For the last several years, my Christmas season has consisted of singing carols at key locations to earn an income. My Christmas Day is a day where I stay home and watch whatever Christmas shows might be on television. No feasting of any kind the last several years. Just doesn’t seem to work out.
This Christmas will be tough to get through, as it’ll be the first without my friend Alice. And my roommate just moved out. Gonna be very lonely. Not gonna lie, kinda scared of these ghosts. Maybe someday I’ll have better Christmases again.
Jeff Taylor is an artist and vendor with Street Sense.
