I lived in a log house on the bradberry cemetary rd. off the palmersville hwy by any chance was yours on the same rd ? ----- Original Message ----- From: "MaryCarol" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, December 12, 2010 5:12 AM Subject: [TNWEAKLE] Down Home Christmas Memories in Weakley County > Here is another essay written by published author, Jeannie Travis. > She has given permission for use on Weakley Website. > > MaryCarol > > Christmas Memories > by Jeannie Travis > > My earliest Christmas memories are from when we lived at the Jones > place in a big old log house with a dog trot hall down the middle. > Robert and Jerry slept across the hall in an unheated room and the > rest of us slept in beds in the room with the big fireplace. The > Christmases all roll into one about that time and I can't separate > them out. > > One Christmas Eve I remember waking up and seeing Mama and Daddy > sitting in front of the fireplace talking quietly .I sat up in bed > and asked " Is it Christmas yet ? " Mama said " No , go back to > sleep ." We knew we had to be asleep or Santa wouldn't come, might > not even leave us anything if we weren't sound asleep . Mom had told > us of Uncle Louis struggling to stay awake on Christmas Eve so he > could see Santa Claus. He felt a hand brush down across his face in > the dark...Santa, seeing if his eyes were closed! Best I remember he > didn't get a gift that year. > > We had a big orchard there at the Jones place, and one late Fall day > Daddy wrapped apples in pages torn from the Sears and Roebucks > catalog and laid them carefully in a big wooden box to save till > Christmas. We'd never heard of anyone doing that and of course he > made a big production out of it...him being a storyteller. We just > couldn't hardly wait till Christmas that year to see if the apples > had stayed good. The box was placed in the boys room to stay cool, > but it never occurred to us to sneak in there and eat one.- They kept > pretty good. When we got up on Christmas morning Daddy had a big fire > in the fireplace and we quickly opened our gift and began eating the > candy from our stocking. I can remember seeing the flickers of lights > the fire made to add to the soft halo of light from the coal oil lamp > setting on the dresser. Most special of all though, older brother > Robert had bought me a gift! We never exchanged gifts as some > families do. He had rolled up a comic book and wrapped it up as a > gift for me. I can see us now, I'm sitting off to the side of the > fireplace in a straight back chair, he's bending over the back of it > helping me roll the comic 'the other way' so it would lay flat and > pointing out things in it. It seemed we were in our own little world > and the happy voices of the other kids enjoying their Christmas > morning seemed very far away. I don't think I'll ever get a gift that > means more to me.. > > One Christmas while we lived in that big log house Christmas was a > little different. When we got up our folks weren't in the living > room. Having breakfast in the big lean to kitchen maybe ? We rushed > up to the fireplace to see what Santa had brought us and doggone if > there wasn't a big bundle of switches standing there! Uh oh! We'd > been weaned on tales of how bad boys and girls didn't get nothing > from Santa but a bundle of switches. What if our parents found out > we'd been bad ? We came up with a wonderful idea - just grabbed that > bundle of switches and threw them as far as we could out into the > yard, scattering them around so's they'd blend in. Went back in > giggling to each other. Now Mama and Daddy wouldn't know we'd been > bad! They didn't see a thing, and Christmas went on as usual. > > We didn't hear Santa when he came, but Daddy said he heard the sleigh > up on the roof. Couldn't understand why Mama didn't get a present, > but she showed us a pretty little milk glass jar of deodorant cream, > hidden on top of the cabinet, that Santa had left her. Daddy used to > fill his shoes with fruit and candy when he filled our stockings, and > had more fun than any of us. > > As I think back over the long years of my life I'm reminded of one > time when my sister Joyce went to great lengths to find out what we > were getting for Christmas. I was about 12, she was 19 months older. > Sis knew Mom had hid something in the boys closet, but couldn't > figure out how to get back there in their room without Mama seeing > her. She finally crawled over the partition in our closet into their > closet. Unfortunately she stepped on the gifts getting down! Mama had > got us two big girls a nice wall picture each. On Christmas morning, > Joyce very generously volunteered to take the one with the cracked > glass. Said Mama sure looked at her strangely. She never did tell her > the truth, but years later she told me. Seems like a strange gift, > but it WAS something we would keep and if we'd been careful it would > have been a lifetime gift. > > Looks like Mama would have handmade a lot of stuff for us while we > were gone to school during the year. She was a very crafty person, > but can't remember anything homemade but youngest sister Jan getting > a doll bed with covers made from material left over from a dress Mom > had made for her. With all those children she had to do a lot of > sewing. Sometimes we would come home from school and one of us girls > would have a brand new dress. Mom would get the Sears and Roebuck > catalog and find a style of dress that appealed to her and cut it out > using one of the dresses that fit us as a pattern. She would use > scraps of other fabric to make collars and cuffs, piping on a pocket, > etc. to make it special. I think one reason she didn't make things > for us is because she just wasn't 'into' Christmas, and Dad was so > she missed him more at that time of year, maybe... > > Yes, we were definitely 'pore folks' and only got a token gift from > Santa, but we had special foods fine enough to grace the Squire's > table. Every single Christmas we had a freshly baked coconut cake > (Remember how ladies used to save out the coconut milk and drizzle it > on the cake layers?) and maybe one of Mamas special chocolate cakes, > standing high on the cut glass cake stand she got for selling Lee > salve door to door when she was a girl AND we had boiled custard, > fresh fruit salad, and a Stack Pie In case you never heard of that it > is about 5 pies stacked up with a meringue pie on top. Pie crusts are > made a little thicker, and dark and light fillings are alternated as > you remove the pies from their crusts and stack them on a serving > plate. It is cut like a layer cake. And we had nuts, candy and some > fruit bought with a miserly sum sent us by her 'rich' sister Clyde. > She USED to send us 10 dollars a year, and Mama could buy a bushel of > apples and a bushel of oranges, then she started sending 5 dollars > after the oldest of us 9 kids got up pretty good sized. Somehow they > thought we could earn money. Where, in the middle of the winter out > in the country amongst other pore folks ??? I griped about it one > time and Mama said with a smile " She doesn't have to send us > anything " People amused her, I guess her sister wasn't as bad as her > husband Iven. Strangely enough he didn't manage to take it with him > when he died...I'm sure he thought he could. > > Oh yes...We had a few fireworks to set off EARLY on Christmas > morning! The oldest boys would set off the precious fireworks out in > the front yard while the rest of us watched from the window if it was > very cold... Those Roman candles shot the beautifully colored balls > of fire into the cold dark skies with the bright stars as a backdrop > and we thought it was wonderful...not ever having seen real > fireworks. I'm sure we looked forward to our meager celebration much > more than the jaded children of today. I figure Mama did fine for a > 'widder' woman left with 8 youngens and one on the way .....Jeannie > Travis...Awash in memories.... > > > > ------- > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message