Christmas Past

     Nostalgia....and a wistful yearning for the past, stirs in many a heart  at this time of year. Sometimes we think on the Christmas of our youth. I remember how I would beg my mother to bring the  tree ornaments out of hiding right after Thanksgiving and then carefully unwrap each little glass bauble and horn. It mattered not that some were cracked or broken, they were like old friends come to call but once a year. Even the tinsel would be reused again and again and there was never enough. Each year it became more crinkled and thinned. Those were the days when big colored lights were the only kind to be had, and they were hot to the touch. If one bulb was out, the whole string was useless, so we would say a little prayer while dad hung them. Because, even if they worked before being strung, they might NOT work after they were up! The tree was never huge, my mother was frugal, and besides, there simply weren't enough ornaments to fill up a big tree. But when it all came together  and the little plaster Nativity set was placed beneath, out went the lamps, on went the tree lights and it was a joy to behold! We children would just sit in our pajamas, mesmerized, beneath  that little tree, until forced into bedtime. It's just a simple  remembrance of a Christmas past.