by: Blanche L. Ledford (My mother is the writer of this short story).
During the Great Depression, we celebrated Christmas in a simple way. The Blue Ridge Mountains blocked contact with the outside world. We had no shopping malls and looked forward to getting the Sears and Roebuck catalog in the mail box.
My siblings, Oma, George, Mary Lou, Frank, Hubby, and Helen fought to look at the Christmas catalog. Mama often had to settle the dispute by hiding the wish book.
I selected a doll from the catalog. I begged Mama to order it for Christmas. She smiled and said, "Santa's keeping a list of who's naughty and nice."
The weeks preceding Christmas were filled with anticipation. We drew names at Ogden School and exchanged presents. The grade mothers brought refreshments for the party and school turned until after New Year's Day.
That night nature spread a sheet across the hills and hollows of Brasstown, North Carolina. After breakfast, we kids headed outside to build a snowman. My brother, George, dared me to run around the house barefooted in the snow. Fool like, I took him up and pulled off my brogans and headed through the deep snow. It took a long, long time to warm up my frozen feet before the fireplace.
The girls scooped a big dishpan of snow and made cream for us young'uns. We popped corn and strung it together to trim our Christmas tree that Daddy and the boys got in the woods. Mary Lou placed a bird's nest on the limbs of the pine. Oma and I put candles on the branches and held little Hubby as she put a star at the top of our tree.
On Christmas morning, we young'uns raced into the living room. Our stockings were filled with oranges, apples, hazel nuts, and candy canes. When we opened our presents under the tree, I was delighted that Santa brought me a doll!
Daddy read from the Bible about the birth of baby Jesus as we sang Christmas carols around the fireplace. Our mountain home was filled with cheer as we celebrated the birth of the Christ child with a simple Christmas.
I wish all my blogger friends a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year!
