“Christmas Memories, Of Happy Years Gone By
They Come Back to me, and Keep me Warm Inside
Still Those Memories, Make me Cry”

It’s Christmas in the late ‘80s. I’m four years old, with a brand-new baby brother this Christmas. I really wanted a sister, like so bad, but the moment I laid eyes on him on June 7, 1989, I fell in love. I am sure I couldn’t wait to share Christmas morning with him and teach him all about Santa, even though he was way too little to understand.

My Christmas list to Santa probably included things like a Cabbage Patch Doll, Polly Pocket, Lip Smackers Chapsticks, and a Care Bear. Oh, the anticipation I must have felt at four years old. Christmas in the ‘80s and early ‘90s was the absolute best.

Christmas morning, our stockings were filled, and gifts were under the tree. Christmas with Mom and Dad was magical, and my new baby brother. The Carpenters and Kenny Rogers Christmas albums would be playing in the background on vinyl. We would have Grammy Liddick’s red, and green Christmas bread dipped in hot cocoa for breakfast, then head off to Pap and Grammy (Dwain and Margaret) Perry’s for Christmas lunch.

Walking down the sidewalk over in Southside into my grandparents’ on Christmas day is an image that will forever be in my mind. I always got to pick my favorite toy and bring it along with me that day. I had whatever my new toy was wrapped tightly in my arms and protected from the cold. I had to take care of my new baby doll or stuffed animal. I was always just so excited to show my grammy what Santa had brought me. As we would walk down the last flight of steps before the front door, there would be gram. The door would open.

“Merry Christmas!” she would yell.

She greeted everyone with a big smile and one of her hugs that would warm anyone’s heart. My gram seriously gave the best hugs.

As we walked in, there was a card table full of all kinds of Christmas snacks. Gram’s famous chocolate peanut butter cookies, chips, dip, crackers, candies, and stuff galore in the kitchen. Above the table, my grandparents had these shelves that were out of the wall. It’s kind of hard to explain, but their TV was in the middle. Then, Gram had little knick-knacks and a police scanner up there.

But on Christmas, those shelves hung seven bright red stockings with white trim, just waiting for my cousins and me to take a peek. Each stocking had a Florida orange nestled on the very bottom, and we knew there would be a Christmas popcorn ball. The stockings didn’t last for too many years, but everything else remained the same.

The card table was filled with so many goodies. Gram yelling Merry Christmas as you walked down the steps into their home on Riverside Drive. Pap and Gram sitting in the same chairs every year when they opened the gifts. The amazing ham we would eat for lunch. Christmas day there was the absolute best, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Now I sit here with a tear rolling down my cheek, wishing I could have just one more of these Christmases with my grandparents, what I wouldn’t give. Both sets of my grandparents always made Christmas so special.

My Pap and Gram (Floyd and Lois) Liddick had Christmas the day after, and what a day that was. My grandparents’ house filled with thirty-some people each year. Gram made sure we always sang Happy Birthday to Jesus. Then we went from youngest to oldest opening gifts. It literally took forever, and Pap had the wood stove cranking, so the house was 93 degrees inside. You knew that you didn’t want to wear that new hoodie that Santa brought you to Pap and Gram’s the next day. You asked Santa for a new tank top, then wore that on December 26 instead.

Gram always had a huge Christmas village, and all our gifts were hidden under that table. If you were at their house on Christmas, Gram made sure everyone had a gift. That’s just the kind of people my grandparents were on both sides!

You know, I am 36 years old, and I know how lucky I was to not only have seriously amazing grandparents but amazing parents. I heard a commercial on the radio the other day. It was on 102.7 when they grant someone a Christmas wish and give them a thousand dollars. Some girl was asked what she wanted for Christmas if she won a thousand dollars. She said she wanted to use it to fly home to be with her parents over the holidays. That broke my heart! She won the money to go home, though.

But I thought of how my parents would have done whatever it took to get me home or bought the ticket for me because that’s the kind of parents I have. They wouldn’t let me worry about how I would get home for the holidays. We know without each other, Christmas just wouldn’t be the same. We have had so many wonderful Christmases, year after year.

In 2008 I lost my Pap Perry on Christmas morning, but I can say that was the only sad Christmas I ever endured. I feel guilty even saying that because I know not everyone has the same experience. I just give my parents and grandparents all the credit for me having such a serious love for Christmas time and traditions. They always made it such a special time, and I am so grateful for these many memories that come pouring back this time of year that I can continue to share year after year with you all. I hope your Christmas memories keep you warm inside too.

Christmas Veggie Tree

• Cauliflower
• Broccoli
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Pretzel Sticks
• Yellow Food Coloring

I used cauliflower for the snow, then dabbed yellow food coloring on a piece for the star. Arrange broccoli for the tree, and tomatoes for garland/lights. Use any veggies you like, be creative as you want! I laid the tree on a cookie sheet lined with foil. Serve with a dip.