PLYMOUTH — Wow! That was quite a trip in the Way Back Machine.
Yeah, I decided to fire it up and head back to Old Shawnee — you know, my hometown, which was just like your hometown back in the day.
And I arrived on Christmas Eve and I stayed through Christmas. Here is a wrap-up of my whirlwind visit to Christmas when I was a kid.
Well, nobody enjoyed Christmas more than little Billy O’Boyle — and I have pictures to prove it. Here’s what I saw once again:
Decorations and cookies and presents and trains and Uncle Joe’s light-up Christmas ties and the smell of a real tree and special ornaments and egg nog.
And cousins and a new bike and pierogi and kielbasa and horseradish and nut roll and poppyseed and Whitman’s Samplers and wrapping presents and (more fun) unwrapping them.
And falling snow and Midnight Mass and sitting on Santa’s lap and crowded stores and red and green lights strung across Plymouth’s Main Street.
And asking Walter Roman, Chris Balita, George and Steve Miklosi and Mikey Shusta what they got from Santa.
And corduroy pants and boots and Christmas socks — one green, one red — and unlocked doors and a friendly neighborhood.
These were the days when it snowed every Christmas Eve, lighted Christmas trees were seen in every window and stockings were hung by the chimney with care.
And we waited with intense anticipation. We were sure to behave. We knew Santa was watching. He knew if we were bad or good.
And we behaved alright because we wanted to see those presents under the tree on Christmas morning.
So what was it that kept all of us kids in line back then?
It was that one stern warning we got every year from our parents:
“You better be good, or you will get coal in your stocking!”
Trust me, nobody wanted that. We knew all about coal. Every house had a basement where the coal furnace was located. And nearby, we all had a coal bin. The coal delivery man would pull up, swing that chute through the basement window and dump a ton or two or three into the coal bin.
And every day and night, we would be sent down to the basement to put a shovel or two on the fire to keep the house warm.
And every day and night, we were dispatched to the basement to take out the ashes. We would place the ashes in, yes, ash cans, and we would throw them on sidewalks and streets to provide traction for walkers and vehicles.
The point is, we kids had enough experiences with coal and ashes — the last thing we wanted for Christmas was coal in our stockings.
Ergo, the threat always worked. We were good boys and girls.
Of course, we also knew, but never spoke this, that every one of us could easily have qualified for a stocking filled with coal. But we always managed to at least give the appearance of being good boys and girls.
So when we went to bed on Christmas Eve, we were all pretty confident that coal would not be found in our stockings. But we were never absolutely certain.
So when we awakened on Christmas morning, we still approached the living room with some trepidation. Well, not really. For me, I would jump out of bed, usually run into the telephone stand outside my room, knocking over our party-line black dial phone, and sprint to the living room and the tree.
And what to my wondering eyes would appear, but presents everywhere — and zero coal.
Santa was there! Presents were left! The cookies and milk were gone!
It’s Christmas again!
In my house, this occurred at about 3:30 a.m. So after I assessed all that Santa brought, mom and dad would insist I go back to bed. I always complied, but getting back to sleep was difficult, given the bounty that was just sitting under the tree waiting for me to play with all day.
And by the way, another warning we would get is that if we weren’t good, we would be sent to Kis-Lyn — a reform school for bad kids.
The point of all this is that we understood there were consequences to bad behavior.
Yes, we can always go home — by just remembering those good times — cherish them and be thankful for all you have and for those still here and the ones that are gone to another life.
Here’s a poem I wrote to sum it all up:
Wouldn’t You Wanna?
Wouldn’t you wanna
Hug your mom and dad?
Wouldn’t you wanna
Return to those days?
•
Wouldn’t you wanna
Find a home for all
Those cats and dogs
And for the homeless we see?
•
Wouldn’t you wanna
Have that special person
In your life
To be there, just be there?
•
Wouldn’t you wanna
Remove all superficiality
Self-servingness and greed
And live in a peaceful world?
•
Wouldn’t you wanna
Be all you can be
And happy being it
Just like everybody else?
•
Wouldn’t you wanna
See presents under
Everybody’s tree
And smiles on those children’s faces?
•
Wouldn’t you wanna
Live in a small town
Know your neighbors
And feel safe all the time?
•
Wouldn’t you wanna
Live in a near-perfect world
Where imperfect people
Still genuinely care?
•
Wouldn’t you wanna
To not have to want?
To have peace of mind
With love all around?
•
No more hate
No more evil
Peace on Earth
Goodwill toward all?
•
God bless us every one