My parents lived paycheck to paycheck. But, they always made sure we had a big Christmas. Our tree was never bare, though we might not get alot of stuff the rest of the year. Giving us Christmas took some finagling. My parents were never really into Christmas shopping, which seemed like one more hassle in…
Tag: Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories
Advent Calendar: The Stockings Were Hung
Okay, we didn’t have a chimney, but we did have stockings! My Mom went to the mall where a vendor would be putting names in glitter on red and white stockings. I can’t find a picture of them, but I remember they had a Santa on the front that was fashioned after the Hallmark Santa…
Advent Calendar: Holiday Travel
(Day 13 of the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories: Holiday Travel) We never traveled anywhere during the holiday season. My Dad worked graveyard for bread company and he never had Christmas Eve off. Besides my folks couldn’t afford to travel more than once a year, so all our festivities were in town. But several relatives…
Advent Calendar: A Blending of Portuguese Hawaiian Traditions
My Portuguese family was originally from Sao Miguel Island, Azores. They brought with them many Portuguese traditions including setting up a creche (nativity scene). I am told that my Great Great Aunt had the original from the Azores and brought it from Hawaii to California. They arrived on Hawaiian shores in 1882. There they spent…
Dear Santa
(Day 6 of the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories: Santa Claus) Each year around the end of October I began bugging my Mom about writing Santa. She would relent just before Thanksgiving. Usually around that time, the Sears toy catalog would arrive. The five of us would salivate over the pages, dreaming for things like…