​THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS… by Pennie Hunt

Memories of my childhood

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things
 
I bet you couldn’t read that without singing it. Here we are, Christmas week and all the decorations, wrapping, baking and music sends me back to memories of my past. Just like the classic Rodgers and Hammerstein song, I can remember a few of my favorite things from my childhood.

The holiday dinners my mom made with all my favorite foods. The cut-out sugar cookies were my favorite treat. The different trees we had over the years, green, flocked, live, artificial, and yes, we had one of those silver trees with the color wheel shining on it that was oh so trendy at the time. (If you know what I am talking about we have just revealed our age.)

I remember the year my brother climbed into the garage attic to find the gifts our parents had hidden there. My sister and I stood at the bottom of the ladder laughing and clapping our hands when he held up our presents. I squealed when he held up the Chatty Cathy Doll that I had begged my parents for. I also remember the lack of surprise and guilt on Christmas morning when she was standing under the Christmas tree waiting for me.

My Dad was the king of giving funny gifts and teasing us about what Santa would bring. We went through a phase of eating pop-tarts every morning for breakfast. My sister and I hated the hard corners and edges. We would break them off and pile them in a corner on our plate so we could enjoy eating just the creamy soft inner part. My dad would continually grump at us for wasting half of the toaster treat. For Christmas that year we were given a box full of our broken pop-tart edges. I have no idea where he had hidden them for all those months, but I remember his glee when we opened the box.

Another year he had collected enough identical boxes from his work to wrap every one of our gifts. It was impossible for my brother, sister and I to guess what was in the boxes that were all the same shape, size and even weight. My Dad was very proud of himself for pulling off such a clever scheme.

One of my favorite Christmas gifts was from my brother. For days I would hear an odd squeaking sound coming from his bedroom. My entire family repeatedly told me it was something wrong with the furnace and they would call the repairman after the holidays. On Christmas morning my brother came out of his room with a very oddly wrapped gift for me. It was a cage that held my new buddy, Oscar the hamster. Oscar had been running in his squeaky wheel for days in my brother’s room. No repairman was needed.

The moment that Oscar came into my life brought me joy that I have never forgotten. Because of that memory years later, my own three children woke up on Christmas morning to find 3 hamster cages with their new best buddies inside. And the joy was repeated.

We all have childhood memories like this. We can all remember our favorite things about holidays in the past. Why not share these memories with others during this holiday week?

My song would go something like this…
Petrified pop-tarts and silver-shined trees
A hamster named Oscar – oh yes, if you please!
Brown paper packages that all look the same
These are a few of my favorite things
 
When the dog bites
When the bee stings
When I'm feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don't feel so bad
                                 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
                                                       Pennie’s Life Lesson:
                      Take some time to remember a few of your favorite things from
                                                        holidays of the past.
                              Share your memories with someone you love.
                                            ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

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YOUR TURN...        
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                                                Thank you!  ​
                                      ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
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                             This was written and produced by Pennie Hunt.
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