This was the house I was moved into at 6 months old and lived there with my parents, grandfather and siblings until I was 18. The family moved away the next summer and by the summer after that the windows were all broken, the weeds grew up to the windows and by the next summer it was a vacant lot. There were many happy memories in that house, but it became a victim of urban blight (nice way of saying what happened). Those last 2 times I went by there were the only bad memories I had of that place.
Christmas is always a time when Joyce and I think back about our fond memories. There are so many of them I find it impossible to write all of them at one time, but here are just a few.
One recent Christmas Hailey was just a little girl. Her grandma Jane and her parents constantly gave her things, so we did not know what she wanted or needed. We got her a piggy bank and a $50 bill so we wouldn't duplicate anything she already had. When she opened the package she held up the $50 bill with joy. Her grandma Jane asked her who was on the $50 bill. Hailey yelled out Jeff Foxworthy!
This was inside our home in 2004 and as you can see Joyce liked Christmas decorating.
These were the outside decorations in 2004.
Christmas 1984 in San Diego we had just moved into our new townhouse in December and hosted my parents, sisters, brothers and all their kids. My father had everyone he loved in the home, except for my brother Tom and his wife Sheri and daughter Gina. It was a grand celebration for everyone there but dad. He was sad that Tom and his family were not there. It hurt me to think with all that were there and all Joyce and I did, dad was still not happy. We hosted a grand Christmas that was warm and enjoyed by all but one.
In 1963 to 1968 and 1972 I was away from home for Christmas. 1963 training in Millington Tn., 64 Guam, 65 Guam, 66, 67 aboard ship, and 72 I was aboard ship waiting in the chow line for some crappy turkey made from pressed meat. 1972 I went to a Christmas eve service with the famous Billy Graham on the ship, little consolation for being away from home.
Christmas eve of 1975 we were in Camdenton hosting the night for an uncle, aunt, brother, sister in law and other family. We played a card game called "Spoons." It was a fun game that went something like this: deck of cards dealt out to players and there was one less spoon than players. As people laid down the cards, and a certain card was played that person who played it would pick up a spoon as stealthily as possible and when everyone else realized that a spoon had been picked up, that set off a scramble to grab a spoon. The one who came up short was out of the game. It was so much fun and we played it until almost dawn on Christmas day, with everyone drinking, (except for mom) all night long. The family loaded up in the cars and I went out with them to offer to drive dad and mom home. I must have been really drunk to think I could get them home better than dad because he could drive as well drunk as sober. Mom got home and cooked a turkey and was as mad as a wet hen when everyone else was a little too ill to eat much of it.
Christmas eve 1972 Joyce was in Camdenton while I was on board ship. Our daughter was still young so when it was time for Joyce to take her home my sister went home with them to help Joyce put up a Christmas tree for our daughter. There was several inches of snow on the ground so Joyce parked the car up by the highway so she would be able to get out for Christmas at my parent's house. Joyce shut off the car engine and as she got out of the car she dropped her car and house keys into the snow. The warm keys sunk into the snow and disappeared. The temperature was cold with a strong wind blowing. Joyce, my sister and my daughter slogged through the snow to the house with two locked doors. After several minutes Joyce remembered the window over the kitchen sink did not have a lock on it, so she shoved our daughter through an open window to get all of them into the house to warm up. Later Joyce walked down to the highway and was fishing around on her hands and knees as she sifted through the snow looking for her keys. Meanwhile, half the town passed by on the highway only to she her crawling around in the snow. She was very embarrassed, thinking everyone that saw her thought she was drunk and stumbling home.
Christmas of 1964 I was overseas and Joyce sent me a card that brightened my day. It had a picture of Santa on the front with the words "Ho Ho Ho I know what you want for Christmas." Inside it said "Ho Ho Ho you're not going to get it!"
1968, my first year home since we were married we had a trailer home in Millington. Joyce went out in a rainy, cold night for a Christmas tree while I watched our daughter at home. It should have been me out in the cold, but it was Joyce because she wanted the perfect tree for our first ever Christmas together. She came home with a huge tree all wrapped and tied at the tree lot. It was soaked with rain, so we put it in the hallway to drip dry. Once that was over, we brought it into the living room and cut the chords tying it together. We were both amazed at how much the tree spread out, taking up a huge part of the living room, but it was our first Christmas together so Joyce wanted a big tree. All went well until after Christmas when we removed all the lights and ornaments and it was time to remove the tree to the trash pit. The branches had opened so wide the tree would not go out the door. We had no saw, no clipper, not even a knife with a serrated edge. All we could do was get me outside on the porch pulling on the tree while Joyce pushed it from the living room to finally slam it out the door. What happened during that ill-fated endeavor was all the dried pine needles flew like an explosion back onto the living room carpeting. We were still picking up stray pine needles up for a month or more after that.
One recent Christmas Hailey was just a little girl. Her grandma Jane and her parents constantly gave her things, so we did not know what she wanted or needed. We got her a piggy bank and a $50 bill so we wouldn't duplicate anything she already had. When she opened the package she held up the $50 bill with joy. Her grandma Jane asked her who was on the $50 bill. Hailey yelled out Jeff Foxworthy!
This was inside our home in 2004 and as you can see Joyce liked Christmas decorating.
These were the outside decorations in 2004.
Christmas 1984 in San Diego we had just moved into our new townhouse in December and hosted my parents, sisters, brothers and all their kids. My father had everyone he loved in the home, except for my brother Tom and his wife Sheri and daughter Gina. It was a grand celebration for everyone there but dad. He was sad that Tom and his family were not there. It hurt me to think with all that were there and all Joyce and I did, dad was still not happy. We hosted a grand Christmas that was warm and enjoyed by all but one.
In 1963 to 1968 and 1972 I was away from home for Christmas. 1963 training in Millington Tn., 64 Guam, 65 Guam, 66, 67 aboard ship, and 72 I was aboard ship waiting in the chow line for some crappy turkey made from pressed meat. 1972 I went to a Christmas eve service with the famous Billy Graham on the ship, little consolation for being away from home.
Christmas eve of 1975 we were in Camdenton hosting the night for an uncle, aunt, brother, sister in law and other family. We played a card game called "Spoons." It was a fun game that went something like this: deck of cards dealt out to players and there was one less spoon than players. As people laid down the cards, and a certain card was played that person who played it would pick up a spoon as stealthily as possible and when everyone else realized that a spoon had been picked up, that set off a scramble to grab a spoon. The one who came up short was out of the game. It was so much fun and we played it until almost dawn on Christmas day, with everyone drinking, (except for mom) all night long. The family loaded up in the cars and I went out with them to offer to drive dad and mom home. I must have been really drunk to think I could get them home better than dad because he could drive as well drunk as sober. Mom got home and cooked a turkey and was as mad as a wet hen when everyone else was a little too ill to eat much of it.
Christmas eve 1972 Joyce was in Camdenton while I was on board ship. Our daughter was still young so when it was time for Joyce to take her home my sister went home with them to help Joyce put up a Christmas tree for our daughter. There was several inches of snow on the ground so Joyce parked the car up by the highway so she would be able to get out for Christmas at my parent's house. Joyce shut off the car engine and as she got out of the car she dropped her car and house keys into the snow. The warm keys sunk into the snow and disappeared. The temperature was cold with a strong wind blowing. Joyce, my sister and my daughter slogged through the snow to the house with two locked doors. After several minutes Joyce remembered the window over the kitchen sink did not have a lock on it, so she shoved our daughter through an open window to get all of them into the house to warm up. Later Joyce walked down to the highway and was fishing around on her hands and knees as she sifted through the snow looking for her keys. Meanwhile, half the town passed by on the highway only to she her crawling around in the snow. She was very embarrassed, thinking everyone that saw her thought she was drunk and stumbling home.
Christmas of 1964 I was overseas and Joyce sent me a card that brightened my day. It had a picture of Santa on the front with the words "Ho Ho Ho I know what you want for Christmas." Inside it said "Ho Ho Ho you're not going to get it!"
1968, my first year home since we were married we had a trailer home in Millington. Joyce went out in a rainy, cold night for a Christmas tree while I watched our daughter at home. It should have been me out in the cold, but it was Joyce because she wanted the perfect tree for our first ever Christmas together. She came home with a huge tree all wrapped and tied at the tree lot. It was soaked with rain, so we put it in the hallway to drip dry. Once that was over, we brought it into the living room and cut the chords tying it together. We were both amazed at how much the tree spread out, taking up a huge part of the living room, but it was our first Christmas together so Joyce wanted a big tree. All went well until after Christmas when we removed all the lights and ornaments and it was time to remove the tree to the trash pit. The branches had opened so wide the tree would not go out the door. We had no saw, no clipper, not even a knife with a serrated edge. All we could do was get me outside on the porch pulling on the tree while Joyce pushed it from the living room to finally slam it out the door. What happened during that ill-fated endeavor was all the dried pine needles flew like an explosion back onto the living room carpeting. We were still picking up stray pine needles up for a month or more after that.
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