Hi List Members! What a great idea to share Christmas memories! Just like our dear friend Nancie O'Sullivan, I grew up in the Drayton Mill village, just outside of Spartanburg. I am a "baby boomer", born in 1948. I guess I started knowing all about Christmas in the early 50s. What a wonderful time to be a kid!!! Our parents had been through the War, our fathers all had good jobs, mostly in the mill. We certainly weren't wealthy but we had everything we needed and then some. Most important we had FAMILY. We had our own family, we had our community family and we had our church family. I certainly remember those Christmas Eve services at the old Drayton Methodist Church- then going down the stairs to the social hall (basement) where Santa would give all of us kids a present (from our parents) and a nice bag of fruits and nuts and a big Hershey chocolate bar. We even got Brazil nuts, of course we didn't call them Brazil nuts. I remember eating some wonderful food just down the street at the Lavenders (Edgar and Sallie, my maternal grandparents). All of my mother's family would be there- my grandmother and my Aunt Irene Gault (ne. Lavender) would cook the turkey that came from the back yard- good as any Butterball you can find! I can still see Grandma Lavender and Irene chasing that bird around the yard! Nobody really was doing anything special- just getting along with the business of living. But, something special was happening... they were making memories. You better believe I'll be calling my Aunt Irene (89 and full of life) and telling her how much I care for her May we all go about the business of creating memories for the generations that shall follow! To my cyber-family- Merry Christmas! Mickey Foster - LaBelle, Florida --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now