Here I am
with my half first cousin Billy about to go easter egg hunting

I don't remember it;

If it were not for this picture
would never know that Billy and I
had ever gone easter egg hunting together.

I vaguely remember some easter eggs hunts at the church; and, a cornflower blue taffeta easter dress with a satin slip of the same color; but that is about it for Easter! Even if I do seem to have a lot of Easter pics on this page!

My Thanksgiving memories are even scarcer. They consist of a 40 pound turkey my father was given one Thanksgiving. Do you have any idea how long it takes to eat a 40 pound turkey!

Since that time, turkeys have been bred to be smaller than they used to be. They used to be very big birds; but, even so, 40 pounds was rather large!

We always had oyster dressing. Oysters were not expensive back then like they are today and my family loved them, all... except me. I had to pick the oysters out of the dressing every
Thanksgiving and Christmas!

Banana pudding was also a great favorite and my mother's specialty. When I got old enough I would help her make it by layering the sliced bananas and vanilla wafers while she cooked the pudding which she made from scratch. We made banana pudding for every special occasion!

My Christmas memories are the most numerous. I guess they are for most of us. I have already given my memories of how Christmas was at the church.  So here I shall remember how Christmas was at home.

For one thing, this is Florida even if northern Florida; so, although it might be cold, snow was not a realistic possibility; and, there was always a good chance that it would be quite warm. The fact that it did not snow here made me feel deprived back then; not because I really wanted snow; but, because I thought I was supposed to. So many of the Christmas songs and the cards and decorations, in one way or another, told me that a white Christmas was the only one to have.

I have since gotten over it!

We always opened our Christmas presents on Christmas Eve. I am not sure why. We just did. I was always a skeptical kid; so it didn't do them any good to try to convince me about any Santa Claus. I knew I had best keep my opinions about God to myself; but, as concerns Santa Claus I was quite vocal!

I still don't like the idea of Santa Claus. Every year I think about the poor children who wander why Santa Claus brings lots of presents to some children's homes while they have to go off to some so-called party at what looks like a warehouse to get even one toy!

They let me pick out my own Christmas gifts. I remember one year choosing a doll because it looked like a character on television I liked a lot. The character's name was Millie. The show was "Meet Millie" and it starred Elaine Verdugo or something like that.

A lot of people back then did not have televisions; but, we did.

One year, when Lucy Ricardo had her baby, I got a "little Ricky" doll. The store had two kinds of little Ricky dolls, with hair and without. My parent's couldn't understand why I wanted the one without hair; but, I thought it had the prettier face! Anyway, that is the one I got.

I also got a blue car once that I could get in and make go by pedaling it like a tricycle. Later on I got a blue bicycle with training wheels. I eventually learned to ride it without training wheels; and, then got an even bigger blue bicycle.

I was really into blue back then!

Christmas was always big at school. Back then, in this part of the country, it was the only holiday at this time of year. There was no talk of Hannukah and Kwanza did not even exist!

Every year the school would have a Christmas party where Santa Claus would give out those brown bags filled with fruit, nuts, and candy. We also had cake and kool aid. My father played Santa Claus at the church Christmas party. I wondered whose father was playing him there.

We always had a Christmas play and all our families came. Some of them were very big productions!

I especially remember being in a production of "The Nutcracker" one Christmas. I played a toy soldier; and, we "marched" to "March of the Toy Soldiers." The boys all wore white shirts and navy blue pants. The girls all wore white shirts and navy blue skirts. Our mother's made the costumes. Most women could sew back then and did!

On the last day of school before Christmas, we would have another party. This was our "class party" where we usually had cookies, cupcakes, and kool aid which our mother's made.

Mother's had more time to do things like that back then since most of them did not work outside the home.

The Christmas I was seven I had the chicken pox! Mildred and her family came by that Christmas Eve not knowing about my condition. I remember sitting in the living room watching my mother stop them at the door on account of Mildred's children; and, I remember hearing my niece, Regina, who was all of three, telling them that she liked chicken!

I also remember, later that night, sitting on the kitchen counter; feeling absolutely terrible, and watching my brother and brother-in-law play with a dart game.

My sister, Mildred, with her
three children: from left to right, Ronald who died in a 1994 Georgia traffic accident, plus Regina and Steve who are both still going strong.