Although the gifts aren't nearly as awesome as they used to be - no more Easy Bake Ovens, Baby Alives, Operation games, roller skates with the cute little pom poms - Christmas is still my favorite time of year.Everyone (for the most part) seems to be in a festive mood. Towns even get into the holiday spirit with those cheesy decorations they've been using for the past eon.
At night, the street corners and houses are all aglow with dazzling lights, wreaths and the usual big plastic Santa and his reindeer camping peacefully in a few of the neighborhood yards.
And as strange as it may seem, I always do a double take when I see a black Santa.
I know it's a personal choice and since we all know Santa isn't real....although my sister and I saw him with our very own eyes as children....I guess it really doesn't matter whether your plastic Santa is Claus, Clark, Wong or Gonzales!
Tis the season to be jolly right?
But back to me and my sister's encounter with ole Kris Kringle himself.
It was Christmas eve. I guess the year would have been about 1974. I was 5 and my sister was 8.
We were asleep in our bedroom....excited as a dude who's taken his first dose of Viagra and things seem to be looking "up"....
Anyhoo, we finally fell asleep only to be awakened by the sound of bells outside our window. I was always a super scary kid. So, whenever I heard a noise you can best believe anyone in close proximity to me was going to get an elbow in their ribs or a tap on the shoulder.
As my sister finally came to, I asked her if she could hear what I was hearing. She listened in the still darkness and there it was again...the bells...the bells.
The head of our bed was positioned right against the window - the window that was on the front of the house - facing the street.
We both got up on our knees, pulled the curtain back, and peered out the window.
It was cold that night and the window was slightly fogged up from the heat inside competing with the cold outside. But after wiping an area free of the condensation, THERE HE WAS IN ALL HIS GLORY.
IT WAS SANTA CLAUS!!! He was nestled comfortably in his sleigh and eight huge reindeer were pulling the sleigh right down the middle of our street. **
Maybe me seeing him is why I do the double take thing when I see a black Santa...'cause this guy was as white as the driven snow!
Talk about nearly crapping your nightgown! We dove under the cover after giving each other our customary affirmation nod. You know the kind that signals to the other person that you just saw what you think you saw.
We were so frightened that he would know we had seen him and be punished with no gifts plus a frickin' eye full of ashes the next morning that we both fell asleep shivering.
Of course, Christmas morning was wonderful. Toys, clothes, and a secret only she and I shared.
We've only mentioned that night a few times since we've been adults but I KNOW IT WAS REAL AND SHE DOES TOO.
Now before you send the men in the white coats....maybe we should ask my mom what kind of hallucinogenic she put in our hot cocoa that night before bedtime.
** THIS IS A TRUE STORY. NO NAMES WERE CHANGED TO PROTECT THE IDENTITIES OF THE PARTIES INVOLVED. PLEASE DON'T HOLD IT AGAINST ANY OF THEM IF YOU EVER MEET THEM IN PUBLIC
