FOND MEMORIES OF A CHRISTMAS PAST
Today while fighting the urge to jab a pencil in my eye during my trip to Wal-Mart I was reminded of a favorite Christmas of mine. My memories of Christmas as a child and specifically as it related to presents was all about receiving gifts. First it was gifts from Santa that he left out the night before Christmas. Then as my sister and I grew a little older it was gifts from Santa that for some reason weren't under the tree when we woke up but according to our mother, Santa had until 10:00 a.m. on Christmas morning to get all the presents out and since we were obviously towards the end of his run we had better go back to bed and close our doors so Santa could deliver the presents. Low and behold when we came out 30 minutes later there were presents from Santa under the tree. Then finally sometime around my senior year in high school the gig was finally up (thank goodness) and we just got presents from our parents and family. The point of this is that we got presents. As kids, that was our focus. Getting presents. To be honest with you I can't remember the first year I got a present for someone else. I know it was at a fairly young age because I remember going with my grandparents or an aunt and uncle to pick something out for my mother. As my sister and I got older we bought a few more presents. Mom, step dad, grandparents, each other. We have a big family that always spends Christmas together and the adults always bought at least one present for everyone in the group. Being in high school and college I didn't really have the money to do this but stuck to my process of going in with my sister to buy presents for those closest to us.
I graduated college in December 2000. I moved to Austin a few weeks later and a few weeks after that quit my first job. I had already signed a lease on an apartment so I found any job I could. I ended up taking a job at Dillards working in the mens department. I worked that entire year making barely enough money to make ends meet each month. As the end of that first year on my own came to a close I decided it was time to be an adult and find a way to get presents for everyone. My sister and I as always went in together on presents to help with the costs but neither of us were in a position to spend much money. So we got creative. One of the designers at my store was giving away large golf umbrellas for people who purchased $50 or more. The rep told me I was welcome to have one of my own so I took one with me after work thinking this will make a great present. No one bought that particular type of clothing so a few weeks later there were a ton of umbrellas left. I figured if it will make one good present then it will make two.
My grandpa loves old country and western music. He would always complain though about records having only a song or two that he liked and that he usually didn't like the way they were played anymore. So I used Morpheus to download 16 of his favorite songs. It actually took more effort than it sounds like as this was the beginning of the music pirating era. He loved the gift.
The point of it all was to finally focus less on what people were giving me and more on what I could give other people. The examples I just gave you may sound comical but to be honest it was one of my best Christmas'. I had to work in Austin the day before and the day after Christmas so I had less than 24 hours to spend with my family on Christmas, but during the weeks of waiting to be home for Christmas I was able to take what little means I had and turn it into gifts for those I loved. They really weren't great gifts I guess but it meant a lot to me to be able to give them and to make the sacrifice to do so. I make a little more money now than I did back then so I'm able to purchase more attractive gifts these days. And although it's still a joy to give I just don't get the same feeling I got that Christmas. It was one of my best ever and I'll always remember it.
I graduated college in December 2000. I moved to Austin a few weeks later and a few weeks after that quit my first job. I had already signed a lease on an apartment so I found any job I could. I ended up taking a job at Dillards working in the mens department. I worked that entire year making barely enough money to make ends meet each month. As the end of that first year on my own came to a close I decided it was time to be an adult and find a way to get presents for everyone. My sister and I as always went in together on presents to help with the costs but neither of us were in a position to spend much money. So we got creative. One of the designers at my store was giving away large golf umbrellas for people who purchased $50 or more. The rep told me I was welcome to have one of my own so I took one with me after work thinking this will make a great present. No one bought that particular type of clothing so a few weeks later there were a ton of umbrellas left. I figured if it will make one good present then it will make two.
My grandpa loves old country and western music. He would always complain though about records having only a song or two that he liked and that he usually didn't like the way they were played anymore. So I used Morpheus to download 16 of his favorite songs. It actually took more effort than it sounds like as this was the beginning of the music pirating era. He loved the gift.
The point of it all was to finally focus less on what people were giving me and more on what I could give other people. The examples I just gave you may sound comical but to be honest it was one of my best Christmas'. I had to work in Austin the day before and the day after Christmas so I had less than 24 hours to spend with my family on Christmas, but during the weeks of waiting to be home for Christmas I was able to take what little means I had and turn it into gifts for those I loved. They really weren't great gifts I guess but it meant a lot to me to be able to give them and to make the sacrifice to do so. I make a little more money now than I did back then so I'm able to purchase more attractive gifts these days. And although it's still a joy to give I just don't get the same feeling I got that Christmas. It was one of my best ever and I'll always remember it.
posted by Craig at 7:44 PM
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