MORE CHRISTMASES

Two more memories have drifted to the surface. Number one was the first Christmas after we were married. We were living in Memphis at the time for three weeks while the genius was at a job site on an island in the Mississippi River. He was an engineer working for Chicago Bridge and Iron Company traveling around to different locations inspecting the various work situations. So at that time we were living with BJ and Jerry who lived in Memphis then. This was in 1960 and the interstate system was only partly built between Memphis and Nashville.

The genius put in a full day’s work and we started out about 6:00. Somewhere the interstate ran out and we were traveling on Highway 70 in the dark when we noticed the snow beginning to fall. It’s great to have a white Christmas if you’ve already arrived at your location, but not so nice at 9:00 with no snow tires or chains and you have to navigate the hills of middle Tennessee.

We made it to Centerville (about 50 miles from home) and we just couldn’t make it up one long steep hill. So we parked the car and trudged to someone’s house on the hill and knocked on the door. Thank goodness those were the days before people were afraid to open their house to strangers, and the people invited us in. They turned out to be singers for the Grand Ole Opry, part of the Carter family singers. We put in a call to our parents for help and they said that someone would be right out. Those nice people insisted that we stay in the house until time to go wait for help to arrive. It made me want to go right out and buy Opry tickets (it was several years before we would do that). But I’ll always remember their hospitality.

Footnote to that story: Our two fathers did arrive with chains, helped us put them on, and we were able to get home easily. The only thing is that they put them on upside down, the tires were ruined, and we had to buy new ones.

Number two memory is from a few years later when Ashley was three and Jim one. Ironically, we were living in Memphis again. A lot had happened in those years. The genius had served in the Army for 2 years at Fort Sill, OK (where Ashley was born), then he had worked for and earned a Master’s Degree from the University of Florida (where Jim was born), and we were now back in Memphis where he was employed by an engineering firm.

This time our trip home was different. Because of the children, our car was loaded to the hilt not only with all of their baby stuff, but with Christmas presents as well. And we didn’t have snow!!

Buried down in the Christmas presents was a toy stove with burners that lit up. This little jewel came from Sears and of course, had to be assembled. We were staying with my in-laws on Christmas Eve and then we would go to my parents on Christmas Day. About 10:00 p.m. the genius and his brother-in-law Sam, who was a pathology resident at the time, began to assemble that little cardboard stove. I mean you have two very smart men to put together a toy that came from Sears!! How difficult could that be? Well, it was the most intricate looking apparatus I had ever seen. So many wires were in that box - - - it looked like the inside of a computer. They worked on that stove until 2:00 a.m. and finally it was done!!

Of course, the children were awake four hours later to see what Santa had brought. I still have pictures of that morning – all the adults look terrible and the children are happily playing with the toys. I seem to remember that that little cardboard box with its mess of wires didn’t last very long, but putting it together made for some good memories.