I awoke this morning to a very quiet and unusually undecorated house, remembering when I was a kid and how Christmas Eve seemed like the longest night of the year. We would wake up several times throughout the night, probably every hour, to find "Santa" not quite ready for us.


Life was so simple and the little things made us oh so happy. I don't know how my Mom and so many other poor or single parents did it but, somehow, they made sure we had joy! Thank God for lay-away! Does lay-away still exist? I hope so. It was so much more practical than credit...


We would squeal and scream with delight as we ripped paper off gift after gift excited to see what the other of us had gotten. Each of us would receive a "big" gift, a special gift that was just for you, something specific we had asked Santa for. Some of our other gifts were communal gifts, games and such intended for all of us. Always, somebody had a bike under the tree. Kids were still normal then. We played outdoors...


We would play with our new toys as Mommy prepared breakfast, usually hoe cake with lots of butter and Alaga or Karo syrup! How many of you know what hoe cake or Alaga or Karo syrup is? LOL!


Christmas music blared from the radio or record player. The Jackson 5 Christmas album was our favorite while Mommy loved Mahalia Jackson or Nat King Cole!!!


Ours was one of the most decorated houses in the neighborhood. Mommy adorned every window and every room, even the bathroom, with some sign of Christmas. Yep!, we only had one bathroom for six people! Imagine that! LOL!


There would be guests in and out all day before we would settle down and have a good Christmas dinner, always to include ham, greens, and lightly buttered Brown and Serve rolls among the rest of the smorgasbord. It was a day of pure, commercialized joy and family filled fun & delight! I don't know what families do now, but I sure hope it's some semblance of Christmas of old filled with memories to sustain them into old age...


As I got older, the joy was in flipping the script. I became the giver of joy, not the starry-eyed receiver. I bought gifts for everyone. My greatest joy, however, was giving the gift of joy to my Mom who had made so many Christmases, and so many other days, so joyous for me. I lived to reciprocate. She loved being spoiled by me as much as I loved spoiling her. She deserved it. Her friends would ask, what did "Lita" (that was her name for me - Black Mothers ALWAYS have special names for their children) get you this year. I took pride in giving her bragging rights. She, on the other hand, welcomed any opportunity to talk about her kids. Mommy Stop!!! LOL!!!


Those were surely wonderful years, years of simplicity filled with cheer and love...


As I enter this new season of holiday, joy and renewed life, I will reach back for my spirit to be buoyed by memories from days of old and pray that children and families today are experiencing something of the same sort...


Merry Christmas Ladies! Enjoy the wonders of the holiday season however it is that you celebrate or don't celebrate.


Make good use of this time off doing what you do! I would like to be on a beach somewhere just sittin' & chillin' in the blazing sun... Next year for sure! (smile)


Spread Love, Joy and Cheer Always!,
~ Miss Higgi
When Black Women Gather, LLC
Christmas 2022