TUCKER'S TURF

Wishing you a safe (and simple) Christmas

Posted 11/30/16

It is no longer fun anymore. Remember when Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas were times you looked forward to sharing with family and friends and just simply enjoy life as it was, you know, those …

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TUCKER'S TURF

Wishing you a safe (and simple) Christmas

Posted

It is no longer fun anymore. Remember when Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas were times you looked forward to sharing with family and friends and just simply enjoy life as it was, you know, those days before greed and commercialism completely took over every event in our lives.

We used to start school and look forward to Friday night and football. We would start planning Halloween in late September and early October. I lived in a neighborhood where you actually knew your neighbors and they were your friends. I lived on Huttig Street in Pleasant Grove (southeast Dallas) and the “territory” we covered included Huttig, Seydel, Colebrook, Prichard, Gaylord, Utica, Hilburn and Umphress. We didn’t venture too far unless we crossed over the Hawthorne school yard into Stonehurst, Traymore, Seco, Valentine Court and Aurora.

It was actually safe for a child to roam our area without a parent and the candy you collected did not have to be checked for safety reasons. We dressed up like witches, pirates, princesses, and Frankenstein without going to a mega store to buy a costume. Either we made our own, or begged our Mom’s to help us out at the last minute. Halloween was never a plot for a Satanic takeover either, it was simply a fun time.

It was after Halloween we began to start thinking about Thanksgiving and making plans to spend time with our families and watch a lot of football. Most of the time, the boys on Huttig Street would be outside in the middle of our street playing tackle football on the concrete. We would take on one of the other street teams from the neighborhood the one day (Friday) we were out of school.

There was no Black Friday, just an extra busy day to kick off the Christmas season. No store of any kind was open on Thanksgiving. It would have been a big sin back in the 1950s and 1960s. Store owners would have been run out of town had they opened. The local 7-11 was even closed for Christmas.

People decorated their homes inside out and on Christmas Eve Christmas, carolers would be roaming the streets bringing joy to all up and down our streets. You even got to see Santa Claus at church and he would give you a bag of fruit with a candy cane. You would be happy and thankful to get it too. Mom and Dad ate the fruit and the kids got the candy. Our Christmas list would include maybe one big item (bicycle, new baseball bat, electric train) and after that you were happy with whatever old Santa brought you. I used to hope I wouldn’t get the “dreaded” present of clothes. Clothes was stuff you already had anyway. We actually had our special times on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Now, I just hope to see and visit loved ones at some point during the season.

We didn’t even think about a tree until after the turkey was put away. I do remember the early days of those silver aluminum Christmas trees. My Dad said never in my house by golly, but we ended up with one anyway after a few of years. The neighborhood gang hated those fake trees because we would go gather all of the real trees thrown out after Christmas and build forts out of them in a designated back yard. Those fake trees killed our building of tree fortifications.

I really don’t mean to sound old and grouchy like Mr. Scrooge, but I sure miss those days. Today, I just hope to see my kids and grandkids with smiles on their faces. That is what makes me happy in 2016. A simple hug, some picture taking and a few minutes of conversation are the only “presents” I care about anymore.

As we get closer to Santa’s big day, remember those beautiful words in the book of Luke and the story they tell. Maybe we just ought to get the good book out and read the story from the beginning with no Santa, no new electronics, no new gun, no new sound system, just the simple event of a baby being born, an event which changed the world.

I wish you and yours safe travels during December and my prayer is you will receive something simple, like maybe a surprise visit from a special friend or relative, or a grandbaby who just wants to be held and give hugs.