More Than A Day Away by Mike Steely
I think my most memorable gift was a small bike that had belonged to a relative. I was probably seven or eight years old, and I remember bothering my parents for a bike, although I doubt back then I could ride well.
That Christmas morning, there was a large draped object behind the other presents, and I remember waiting impatiently to see what was beneath the package. Yep, it was the bike I had admired while visiting my stepfather’s family. I know the bike wasn’t new but, for me, it was exactly what I wanted. I rode that little bike all over our neighborhood, downtown and to school.
I asked many people what their favorite Christmas gift was as a child this month and here are their replies.
Alan Williams: As a child my parents couldn’t afford much, but I (received) a Colonel McCauley space helmet and a black leather motorcycle jacket and wore both all Christmas Day.
Lynne Ralph Siglin: A brand new box of Kleenex tissues wrapped up under the tree. Very meaningful since my parents went through the Depression. It taught me an important lesson.
Jim Stott: I remember running out of my bedroom as a child to see what Santa had left under the tree and stepping in some puppy poop- so that was a pretty good clue!
Terry Livingston: In the ‘50s or ‘60s, a metallic space helmet.
Deanne Charlton: Mid ‘50s, a toy Coca-Cola dispenser with tiny plastic “glasses.” I bugged everybody in the house to drink some until the last 6-ounce bottle was drained.
Misty Williams: Probably my Strawberry Shortcake.
Vivian Shipe: Thumbelina navy doll, soft cloth body with plastic arms and legs. I took her everywhere with me.
Larry W. Cooper: Daisy BB gun!
Mike Brown: Second-hand single-shot 12-gauge shotgun when I was 10.
Susan Tidwell Brown: A Dale Evans-style cowgirl outfit with fancy fringe, a hat and a cap gun in a holster.
Bo Pierce: A Davy Crockett outfit, complete with a long rifle that shot round cork mini balls. Still have it!
Monte Seymour: When I was about the age of 10 to 12, it was a Crosman BB/pellet gun that had a wooden stock and was very accurate. I Googled it, and if my memory is correct, it was the Crosman V-350 slide action BB gun. I loved that gun.
Georgiana Vines: When I was in elementary school and we lived in Denison, Texas, in the 1940s, friends of my parents sent us each a plastic reindeer tree ornament with a red satchel filled with dimes. I’ve kept mine all these years. I’m pretty sure a brother has, too.
Hugh Nystrom: When I was a kid, nothing topped the G.I. Joe military jeep with the cannon on the back, every living-room battle was won with that thing. But as a grown kid, my mom gave me tickets to the 1986 Sugar Bowl, Tennessee vs. Miami, and that became one of my all-time favorites, too. One gift fueled hours of backyard heroics, and the other gave me memories I’ll never forget.
