Tag Archives: christmas

T’was Christmas morning and all through the house,

Everyone was stirring, even the mouse,

Lots of smiles, joy and merriment,

And of course a new ornament.

Patty opened her box and Deb’s turn was next,

The look on her face was very perplexed !

The box was empty, no ornament inside…

I felt terrible and almost cried.

Deb rose to her feet and headed to the

tree,

And hung the empty box where the ornament should be.

The following year I searched all around,

A perfect ornament for Deb must be found,

It was, it was just meant to be,

A box ornament for our Christmas tree.

We hang them each year and remember with glee,

How an empty box (filled with love) came to decorate

our tree.

My dad was a police officer in Newark, NJ.  For many of his years on the force he worked in the Emergency Squad division.  During the long hours between calls the guys would keep themselves busy in various ways like cooking.  Near the Christmas holidays they always came up with a special project, like candle making for instance.

In 1956 they made Santas.  I still have ours.  Santa stands about 3 and 1/2 feet tall and is made from press board. After the outline was drawn the guys cut out the Santas and my dad set to work drawing the features, clothing and bag of toys.  At that point our Santa came home and my mother and I painted him.  I’m not sure how many coats of paint we used but Santa was spread out on our kitchen table for about a week before he was completely dry.  I don’t know what kind of paint we used either but here it is 57 years later and he’s not chipped or faded.  This was the only time I ever remember the three of us doing a family project together.

I love everything about this Santa, even the buttons being on the wrong side… but the thing I love the most is that he looks like my dad… a self portrait so to speak.

Below is my daughter Patty age 2 and 1/2 in 1966…

… and her daughter (my granddaughter) Tiffany age 2 and 1/2 in 1991.

Here’s to Christmas memories