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Bagsgroove

(231 posts)
Thu Dec 25, 2014, 01:48 AM Dec 2014

A 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.




11 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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A middle-aged man's Christmas memory (Original Post) Bagsgroove Dec 2014 OP
Thank you for sharing, Bagsgroove. elleng Dec 2014 #1
Special greetings to you Madame. jaysunb Dec 2014 #3
Thank you, jaysunb, and enjoy yours too. elleng Dec 2014 #6
I,was Walter....many times. jaysunb Dec 2014 #2
Thank GOODness, jaysunb. elleng Dec 2014 #5
Beautiful WestCoastLib Dec 2014 #4
Amen n/t jaysunb Dec 2014 #7
a few years back Skittles Dec 2014 #8
something tells me onethatcares Dec 2014 #10
awwwwwwww thanks Skittles Dec 2014 #11
Merry Christmas, Walter... Godot51 Dec 2014 #9

jaysunb

(11,856 posts)
3. Special greetings to you Madame.
Thu Dec 25, 2014, 01:55 AM
Dec 2014

Enjoy your holidays and thank you for the many pleasures you've brought me this past year. (sunsets in particular)

WestCoastLib

(442 posts)
4. Beautiful
Thu Dec 25, 2014, 01:57 AM
Dec 2014

Its a constant battle to make out kids understand this (we have a big extended family who all give them way too much)

Skittles

(152,963 posts)
8. a few years back
Thu Dec 25, 2014, 02:21 AM
Dec 2014

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

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