My Own Christmas Memories (Part 2) by Ann (Jobe) Brown http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~ajobebrown/jobe/letters_ch_cale_j_brewer.html CHRISTMAS - 1963-1971 Christmas 1963 would be my first Christmas after our move to Grand Prairie from Fort Worth. We were living in an apartment only a block from Granny's. Daddy was in the Veteran's hospital and had been for some time. His years of abuse to his body had finally caught up with him. Mommy was still working at the telephone office in Fort Worth so would take the Texas Motor Coach which ran between Fort Worth and Dallas on old Highway 80 to go to work every day. Actually during this time we saw very little of her. My life cantered around my grandmother as we had spent 3 months with her in the summer. Before Daddy went into the hospital, my parents had separated again - I really did not know if they would get back together or not. Do remember that Christmas that I received a package in mail and it was from Daddy. He had sent my sister and I some things for Christmas that he had made at the hospital. Spring 1964, he got out of the hospital and they managed to get back together and bought a house about 2 miles from my grandmother on the opposite side of Grand Prairie. But it was still close enough that we could walk to Granny's or ride our bikes. The next 2 years, we attended church, even baptized as a family, and family life actually improved. But it was very short-lived. Christmas 1967, we found out that my sister, barely 15, was pregnant. A rapid marriage followed with a miscarriage the next month, then pregnant again the month after and Christmas 1968, she lost a baby that we had to bury. Also Daddy had resumed his drinking and Mommy had to take a disability pension from the telephone company. Very few good memories during this time that I can actually remember. One was as a teenager, getting in the car and going to see all the Christmas lights in Arlington. There was one area that would really be lit of every year. I also remember when I finally talked Daddy into allowing us to get a white-flocked Christmas tree. In Texas, I was always dreaming of snow on Christmas and as most Texans know, this rarely happened. And to think that today, I actually get tired of seeing all of this snow and couldn't care less if we have snow or not on Christmas Day. Auntie and Lois would come over (usually the Sunday before Christmas Day) when we would have our Christmas. Daddy did the cooking and would have 2 big chickens in roast pan with lots of stuffing, and it had lots of sage and poultry seasoning. And I would make the fruit salad - bananas, apples, oranges, and then started adding coconut and maraschino cherries. I Would also make home-made Coconut and chocolate pie and brownies. Boy was it good! Christmas 1971 would be the last Christmas that I would live at home. It was also the time that I decided that somehow I was going to leave this area! I'll never forget that New Years Day, but it changed my life. My sister was in the hospital, with schizophrenia. She had really got mixed up with some 'wrong people'. It was New Years Day that I found out that all was not as it seemed. She and my boy friend had lied to me constantly. It hit me like a ton of bricks. This one Christmas and New Years led to me coming to Canada! This was also the last year that Grandma Jobe would be with us. This Christmas, she was 96 years old and she would live 7 more months. In the picture, below, she and Aunt Annie were sitting on the swing which they had on their front porch. I spent many of a time rocking in that swing with Grandma and watching her spit out her snuff into a can.