Good Evening Everyone, Christmas is rapidly approaching and I am sure that all of you are very busy getting ready. Genealogy is much more than just names, dates and places. It is also stories handed down from one generation to another. It is those memories that add the real "meat" to our family histories. The Christmas memories you make this year will be very precious in the years to come just as memories from the past are important now. So.... how about pausing a few moments in the next few days and sharing some of your favorite Christmas memories or Christmas traditions with all of us. Please use the subject of Christmas Memory or Christmas Tradition so that those who might not want to participate can identify and delete if they desire. To start it off, here is my memory...... My family and "Christmas Gift" tradition. I am not sure of the history of this one. I did try to "surf" a bit and see if I could find anything but no luck. But... the idea was to be the first person to wish the other person "Christmas Gift". If you were the first then the other person was supposed to give you something. Now... that usually didn't happen - the gift that is...<g>. But it was fun to try to be the first. People would even greet folks that way in the grocery store, post office, on the street, etc. But in my family we carried it a bit farther. My brother was two years younger than I. He also had a brain tumor and was blind. He died when he was 9 years old. But.. he loved the "Christmas Gift" tradition. So much so that we expanded it to "Christmas Eve Gift". On Christmas Eve morning he would get on the phone and call our relatives. They would answer the phone and he would yell - "Christmas Eve Gift". Of course they would all respond - Oh.... you got me, etc. Then one Christmas Eve our Aunt Louise did something different and turned the tables on him. Instead of answering the phone with the usual "hello", she answered with her own - "Christmas Eve Gift". Johnny Boy held the phone out to my mother and said...... "She got me, She got me..... She didn't do it right".....LOL. One explanation about the phone. We lived in a very small town and this was in the 50's. We still had "phone operators" and you picked up the phone and told them what number you wanted. They would then connect you. The phone was very important to Johnny Boy and he really enjoyed calling people. The phone was in the kitchen and mother put a little stool there. Johnny Boy would sit on that stool while mother worked in the kitchen and he would talk on the phone. He and the phone operators became very good friends. He and my mother would deliver the phone operators little surprises to the phone company office. He would also do the "Christmas Eve Gift" greeting to the phone operators. As his tumor progressed and as he became more and more ill the operators kept up with him. They would call and check on him. The night he died Mother picked up the phone to call some of our relatives and friends. The phone operators came on and told her.... not to worry. They were taking care of all of that for her. It was late at night. But those ladies took care of all the calls for us. My favorite picture of Johnny Boy was taken on Christmas Eve. He is sitting on his stool - in his pajamas - he has his legs crossed and he is on the phone making his "Christmas Eve Gift" calls....<grin>. Johnny Boy died in 1957 but we still do "Christmas Eve Gift". As they came along, my children and my cousin's children would make their Christmas Eve calls. And now their children are following that same tradition. Now... I am looking forward to hearing about some of your Christmas memories and traditions. I hope all of you have a wonderful holiday. Take care - Emma