of Christmas past Christmas past

Thisyear, The Woman Today team asked our readers to share their favorite memories from past Christmases. Memories are cherished moments that can’t be taken away — they are gifts, really. When you take a moment to think about those memories and reflect, you recognize the real importance of why we gather for holiday traditions.

My mother, Deb Keller, submitted a Christmas memory and then started sending me lots of photos of my brother and I at our family Christmases in Grand Rapids. It was so fun to see those from many years ago. I vividly remember visiting my grandparents in Mora, Minnesota, on Christmas Day, and then coming home to a very cold house. It was heated by a wood stove, which was in the basement, so the house was always so frigid cold. We kept on all of our outdoor winter clothes until it was warmer in the house. To give the house time to heat up, my brother and I went out and took care of chores — we had a lot of bunnies, horses, dogs and cats to tend to.

My favorite memory is from 1993. Mom and dad always tried to give us one big gift each year and, of course, they would save it to the very end. We both had huge boxes — and they were very heavy! We tore into those boxes at the same time and, much to our surprise, there were pillows and bowling balls in there with a little note. Our journey began: An outdoor scavenger hunt! I remember it was well below zero and the snow was up to my waist. But we didn’t care, we were just so excited for our family Christmas. After many stops outside, we finally made it back into the house. We couldn’t believe our eyes — my brother got a television for his bedroom and I got a new bike! One of those scavenger hunt notes stayed in an old shed at my parents’ place up until this year, when the shed had to be torn down. It remained there, reminding us of that great Christmas nearly 29 years ago.

Thank you to all who sent us your favorite memories. May you all have a safe and happy holiday season!

Megan Keller Group Advertising Director, Duluth Media Group Publisher, Cloquet Pine Journal

Iwasaround 2 or 3 years old, so circa 1992ish, and my parents got me the most incredible dollhouse for Christmas. It was fully furnished and all decked out with PlayMobil figures. My mom even strung little Christmas lights all over it to be even more magical and festive.

As I was standing there taking in the sheer wonder of the vision before me, my older brother, extremely excited about his new Batman and Batmobile toys, came running up behind me, loudly singing/shouting, "NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA BATMANNNNNNN!!!!!" and proceeded to tear through my perfectly arranged dollhouse with his Batmobile toy, with Batman himself sitting at the wheel.

We don't have a picture of this moment, but I do believe there is old family VHS footage of the event stowed away somewhere in the basement archives. My parents told me I didn't even cry, just stared incredulously at my brother and what he just did.

I spent the rest of the morning putting together what Batman destroyed.

Thank you for letting me share this fun tidbit from life in the Downs household at holidays, never a dull moment!

~Rachel Downs of Duluth

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My parents always had Christmas at their farm and one tradition was to have "one of the boys" dress up as Santa. After our Christmas dinner we would tell the little ones to start watching for Santa, and they would run from window to window looking. Their excitement when they saw him coming from the barn with that bag of gifts was priceless! Santa would tell them the reindeer were in the barn to warm up and have some hay while he passed out gifts. The little ones would crowd around Santa telling him that they are sooooo good this year and how much they loved him. It was a memory we will always cherish. This photo shows me along with my two little ones, Matt and Megan, in 1984.

~Deb Keller of Grand Rapids