STORY
oliday memories
a special time of year
y Kerry Nally
mas and t to well. o on esus’ of part; ce mily
Neil Sweeney Retired school administrator
Audrey Juarez Age 5 We like to celebrate. We go to houses and look at the lights. Santa brought me a camera last year and it’s my favorite. I want a Barbie RV this year. When we’re waiting for Santa we have a special plate and it says, “Cookies for Santa,” and we’re going to leave chocolate cookies and carrots for the reindeer.
I remember when I was 10 years old in 1936, and my biggest wish was to get a bicycle. I knew my parents weren’t able to do that, but my big brother, Tim, surprised me with a bike under our Christmas tree. He was 10 years older and was working as a newspaper deliveryman, and saved his earnings to make my wish come true. It was wonderful. I rode that bike all over San Francisco where I grew up, including taking it on a trip across the Golden Gate Bridge.
Shane Wanlass Pizza maker/dad’s assistant
Keville Parker
During the holidays, my whole family goes to Apple Hill to cut down our Christmas tree. After we find the perfect tree, we always eat lunch in the same little restaurant nearby. I love piling in the car, listening to Christmas music and spending time together. It’s always a really special day.
Retired At the end of the World War II, metal was very scarce, and I wanted a bicycle so very badly. I did get one; it was a blue-and-white used bicycle, but it didn’t matter in the least. Its name was Lightning, and I had it from the time I was 7 years old until I graduated from high school. When I left home, I left the bike behind, but Lightning was my buddy.
Jennifer Amiel Museum educator As a child, we would have a big Hanukkah party, and my mother invited every friend in the book whether they celebrated Hanukkah or not. Potato latkes were always on the menu, and we would set up griddles outside and all of the girls would take turns cooking them. Now that I have children, I’ve discovered one of the benefits of eight nights of gifts is that it takes the pressure off. If they open a gift and say they were hoping for something else, I can run out and get that gift for the next night. And we discovered last Hanukkah that my husband is an excellent sufganiyot baker; I’m hoping he will make them again this year.
Pleasanton WeeklyÊUÊDecember 23, 2011ÊU Page 13