Chirstmas and New Year's have come and gone. It reminded me of Christmases Past to watch the wonder and the joy on the faces of my grandchildren as they opened their presents. Some presents were what they expected and were happily received. Other presents were totally unexpected but also happily received and a perfect fit for their age and interests. They always seem amazed that Mamma (Me, the Old Granny!) thought of that item that is so particularly suitable for them.
When I was growing up in the 1950's and '60's, many of the presents given and received were homemade. I especially treasured the crotcheted items and handmade doll clothes from either my mother, family members--the aunts, uncles, and cousins--- or dear family friends, especially Miss Leila Carroll, an eccentric older friend of the family who always swore she was Quanah Parker's long-lost daughter. And she may have been! Miss Carroll's gifts were always made and given with so much love. Though it was a lot of fun to discuss, decide, and then make items for others, I was never all that "crafty", though I did get the ability to draw and paint from my mother, Marie, who was quite an artist.
My sister, Sue, and I would sometimes spend hours on Christmas gifts to others, but only after night had fallen and it was too dark to ride our horses. In the wintertime, every second of daylight was precious. Sue and I were the horse-craziest girls the world has ever seen! Even now, we have a passion for good horses. Sue and I couldn't wait to get home from school, mount up--sometimes with a saddle, sometimes bareback--and light out at a high trot into Cameron Park. With the daylight fading fast, we couldn't afford to waste a minute. The picturesque trails and hills of Cameron Park and the beauty of the Bosque and the Brazos Rivers always beckoned us, and, to this day, they still do.
Once back home and before we went in to the warm house, we made sure Shorty and Rinky Dink were well-fed and warm in the cozy old wooden barn that was originally one of the Cameron Park Mule Barns. My grandfather, John William (Billy) Head, who had retired from Cameron Park as an assistant superintendent after 42 years of service to the City of Waco, had used this barn for the park work mules and then for his own livestock when mechanization took over in the 1930's and '40's. Many teams of mules had lived in that old barn.
Sue and I would have supper with our family, do any homework, and then work a bit on the Christmas "projects". Sue could always sew better than I could and was a whiz on either of Mama's sewing machines. Sue could run the old treadle-foot sewing machine that had belonged to my mother Marie's mother, Ann Ellison, who was born Annie Belle Jones in 1894 and died in 1976. Sue did just as good on Mama's Singer "modern" automatic electric sewing machine as well and much faster. It may be that I never have had the patience to sit that still for that long. Even today, I love to sew by hand, and I really love to crochet, but don't do much of it as it seems there are too many other enjoyable things to do.
Marie was a wonderful seamstress. She loved to sew and made lovely clothes for everyone. She also sewed practical items as well---sheets, blankets, quilts--whatever was needed. If it was made of cloth, Marie sewed it best. She created many beautiful clothes for many people without charge, sometimes because they needed them, and sometimes just because she loved to sew. Sewing and making beautiful things was Marie's special gift to others.
When Mama was a child growing up in the Great Depression, her gift for sewing and design was highly valued. At that time and place in America and the world, many people still wore homemade clothing--dresses, shirts, pants, slips, coats, even underwear---as it was too costly to buy these items. Many folks had no job and very little money-- and sometimes there wasn't even any cloth available. Mama and her family and neighbors used the cloth from feedsacks--sacks that previously held animal feedstuffs such as chicken feed and were printed with beautiful patterns and colors-- to make many clothes in the Great Depression. Sometimes folks would barter --trade you something or perform a service--for items you had that they needed or wanted.
Mama and Daddy both had the best "green thumbs". I just look at a plant and it nearly dies. Sue--like my little brother Charlie, born in 1958-- can grow anything! Sometimes when money was tight, a beautiful plant with or without flowers from Mama and Daddy's greenhouse or the yard was given as a gift to others, who greatly appreciated it.
Sometimes a very special gift of food was given to others, especially if they were in need of it, which for some folks and their large families was often. Gifts included tall glass Mason jars filled with pickled okra, spiced peaches, pickled beets, chow-chow (Marie's specialty), and bread-and-butter pickles --all of which had been grown and canned from the Head family's large garden behind their old house at 2224 North 4th Street or from the garden behind our new house at 2220 North 4th Street--the house that Daddy built right beside 2224 in 1948, and where I, Sue, and Charlie grew up.
Many made-from-scratch baked goods--cookies, cakes, pies, candy, sweet desserts, and loaves of fluffy white bread or specialty breads made welcome and timely gifts to those folks with bare cupboards. Sometimes, even gifts for the children of families in need were made by hand and given to their parents, so Santa would be sure to stop at their homes that Christmas.
Many folks that lived through the Great Depression and World War II really had their priorities in order. When you have had very little, it doesn't take much to make you happy. Amazed at surviving hard times and a horrific war, most Americans were content just to be alive and were satisfied with what they had. The most important thing to them wasn't making a lot of money or spending a lot of money on material possessions---it was spending time with their loved ones. Perhaps that is the special quality we Americans have lost over the years.
Today, we think we need possessions--things--"Junk" as my Daddy called it--to make us happy. Perhaps if we went back to how it was done in the old days--spending less on material things--"Junk!" --Using it up, making it do, wearing it out, and not wasting anything--- focusing on the family and spending quality time with our loved ones-- we would be much happier.
This year, my daughter Jon Marie, her husband Nick and their son Ross--my oldest grandson,who just turned fifteen and is six-foot-two and so handsome--and I haven't gotten together yet. They live nearDallas. But we will get together and celebrate Christmas one day soon. One day when President Bush isn't at his Crawford ranch and the airspace around TSTC airport isn't restricted, they may fly down here in their plane, and I can pick them up and bring them to my house for our Christmas Party! Nick is the "Flyboy" in the family!
As I spent those precious moments with my two sons, Jimmy and Bobby, and their families at Christmas, Jon Marie, Nick, and Ross were in my thoughts. Even though they weren't with us physically, they were there spiritually, to help us celebrate being together and Jesus' birthday.
As Jimmy and his wife Esther, Bobby and his wife Spring, the six grandkids, and I opened our gifts, we adults fondly recalled the many Christmases and New Years we had been so fortunate to have spent with Mama and Daddy--Marie and Ralston--"Granny and Grandad" to my three children-- at 2220 North 4th Street, with Cameron Park right across the road from the house. We all agreed that we had been truly blessed to have such wonderful memories of our family and such a great and generous time of year.
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