General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsA middle-aged man's Christmas memory
On Christmas day when I was 7 years old, I was sitting on the living room floor surrounded by Lionel Trains and all the You-Can-Tell-It's-Swell-It's-Mattel toys in existence. My best friend Walter, who lived with his mother in a small house in a not-so-great neighborhood, came by to visit. He stood for a few seconds in silence just looking at all the loot.
I said, "Hey Walter what did you get for Christmas?"
He hesitated, then touched his neck and said quietly, "I got this scarf."
The memory sticks because I could tell that Walter was embarrassed. I was too stupid at the time to know that I was the one who should have been embarrassed. At seven, I thought I had gotten all those toys because I deserved them. I was too stupid to realize that luck is not the same thing as virtue.
I don't know what ever happened to my best friend Walter. We lost touch over the years, the way kid best friends do. But I hope he has a Merry Christmas, wherever he is. I hope ya'll do too, DU.
elleng
(130,126 posts)jaysunb
(11,856 posts)Enjoy your holidays and thank you for the many pleasures you've brought me this past year. (sunsets in particular)
elleng
(130,126 posts)Hope to have more sunsets later in the week.
jaysunb
(11,856 posts)We turned out ok.
Merry Christmas.
elleng
(130,126 posts)WestCoastLib
(442 posts)Its a constant battle to make out kids understand this (we have a big extended family who all give them way too much)
jaysunb
(11,856 posts)Skittles
(152,963 posts)my mum commented how I always lost my mittens, sweaters, even a couple of coats when I was a kid
I told her mum, I didn't lose them, I gave them to poor kids........she looked at me for a few seconds and then said, "Your dad suspected that." Dad was a depression survivor which is probably why he never said anything.
hey, the fact that memory stuck with you tells me you're an awesome person....Merry Christmas to you
onethatcares
(16,130 posts)you are an awesome person too.
you've never outgrown your awesomeness.
Skittles
(152,963 posts)Merry Christmas!
Godot51
(239 posts)... wherever you are.