MERRY CHRISTMAS

Christmas has always been a real special time for me. It meant my sisters and brothers, whom are mostly older than me by several years, would come home for the holidays. It meant the bay window in our house in Raton would have a decorated tree in it which we cut down ourselves(the decorating it was always a special event). We hung our stokings on little red chairs because we had no fire place. It meant a very difficult nights sleep for a young boy who had visions of Christmas morning and what it might bring. It meant thinking about how the siblings would feel as they opened the gift you bought especially for them. It meant another turkey dinner with Mom's dressing, home made yeast rolls, wonderful fruit salad and Grandma Foree's creamed corn (nothing like it in the world). Christmas afternoon was a time for shooting. Dad would gather up the guns and off we would go to the old sawmill and shoot cans and paper targets. We played "42" and Monopoly and through it all we ate really well made at home pie: apple, pumpkin, cherry all with whipped cream. Often we would get out the song books and sing away the evening. In Raton we usually had a white Christmas and that made it all the better.
Christmas was a gathering of family and friends to celebrate togetherness. It was/is a wonderful time. I hope it is a great one for all of you. Foree