Gifts And Love Awaits

My wife (Gerry) and I have been married 57-years and we dated some seven years before marrying. Simple math suggests sixty-four Christmas trees we've viewed together and my, my, my have the children Christmas toys changed over those years. Just last evening, we saw several Christmas toy commercials on television and agreed that today's kids seem to need electrical and mechanical engineering backgrounds to truly enjoy their gifts.

I recall those yesteryears when son, Steve was a boy of 4-5-or-6. If he Boy could hammer on it, make loud noises with it or build a block house it was the perfect Christmas toy. The girls Dawn and Pam at those ages already seemed interested in nurturing. They had those dress up dolls, buggys and homemaking kitchen sets with impossible assembling instructions and a zillion pieces.

Those were great years to be parents. Of course, we had to keep an eye on Steve. At age five he and a neighborhood friend, Bruce quietly followed the Mason City mailman on his route one afternoon and took everybody's delivered mail from their box and brought it to our front porch. That was a hellava way to meet neighbors., especially the old-timers looking for Social Security checks. Yes, indeed, we had to watch that boy very carefully. He once brought a cat home, which was drenched from rain and put the feline in our front end-loading dryer...you know the old fashioned one with the window. Thank God Gerry was nearby the utility room and heard the dryer kick on. She ran to the room to see a bewildered-looking cat's face tumbling by the dryer's door-window.

The girls, Dawn and Pam at age five plus and about three respectively had matching little doll-suitcases. Their mother had told them they had to do something, which didn't sit well with  them so they told their mother they were "running away from home." Not to be bluffed, Gerry said okay and told the girls that they should put some things in their suitcases before leaving. The girls walked out the front door with little suitcases in hand. Mom and dad kept a vigil as the girls walked down Yale street in Edwardsville. They arrived at the end of the block and we noticed them turn around and begin returning to the house. When they walked in the front door, Dawn announced in a despondent tone, "We CAN'T run away from home because we're not allowed to cross the street!"

Eventually, all three did 'leave home' but the good news is...they return with wonderful families.
(Touch)Coming Back Home