and Present ...
With apologies to Marcel Proust and Charles Dickens (not necessarily in that order).
My 'fondest' Christmas memories as a child
- my favourite dolls mysteriously going missing just before Christmas and then magically reappearing under the Christmas tree with the new clothes my Mum had spent that last month(s) sewing & knitting
- the Christmas my brother got a new two wheeler bike (complete with banana seat, ape hangers and sissy bar) which meant that I got his old metallic gold Raleigh 20.
- leaving the bucket of water out for Santa's reindeer and then marvelling at the heavy dewfall on the garden on Christmas morning
- realising that being 'allowed' to stay up and go to midnight mass was not becuase I had been a good girl - but was a cunning ploy on the part of our parents to tire us out enough so we didn't wake up at 5am on Christmas morning.
- those wonderful 'auntie' presents you got as a small girl - nice soap, lace-covered coathangers, stationery sets and scented drawer liners.
... and as an adult
- a small child running into the library and breaking the sound barrier by screaming at the top of his voice "MUM, THERE'S A CHRISTMAS TREE IN THE LIBRARY!!!!!!"
- having the sort of job where the wearing of reindeer antlers at work is considered de rigeur
- still getting those wonderful 'auntie' presents - nice soap, lace-covered coathangers, stationery sets and scented drawer liners.
