Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

Question of the day

Posted in:

Illinois

* What’s your favorite holiday season memory?

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Dec 22, 09 @ 7:35 am

Comments

Blago getting arrested!!!! Ho Ho Ho!!!!

Comment by Greg Tuesday, Dec 22, 09 @ 8:01 am
Years ago my grandfather lived on a farm that included a woods. Instead of buying a Christmas Tree, he always went down to the woods and cut down whatever tree he found first. We always used to joke about it because he seemed to always pick out the scrawniest, most Charlie Brown look a like tree that one could find. It eventually earned the name the “Christmas Stick” Dad would always chime in with his joke about being able to throw a cat through the tree without hitting any branches.
It was hilariously funny when I was a kid, but now as an adult it brings back some really good memories. Here’s to you grandpa–I wish again that I could be back on your farm joking about the “Christmas Stick”

Happy Holidays too all!!

train111

Comment by train111 Tuesday, Dec 22, 09 @ 8:02 am
When my kids were babies, their belief in Santa Claus.

Leaving out the cookies and milk for Santa, the carrots and water for the reindeer. I always had to make sure to eat the cookies, nibble the carrots and dump the milk and water before morning.

The memory of them coming down the stairs in their jammies, shrieking with joy and surprise and tearing into the boxes. They’ve grown up real well, but it’s sad to know they’ll never have that innocence and pure joy again.

Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Dec 22, 09 @ 8:35 am
Favorite?! Not quite sure about that…however, w-a-a-a-y long ago, the youngest of my two brothers came into my bedroom in the wee hours of Christmas morning. He awakened me with a flashlight in my eyes stating…”Wanna know what Santa brought you?”!!! Yep….he had opened EVERYONE’S gifts. That was the year dad got to sleep in!! LOL! That was my dad’s favorite memory….not necessarily mine….but a good one! MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

Comment by SouthernIL Tuesday, Dec 22, 09 @ 8:36 am
Nothing quite like sitting around the fireplace at my parent’s house on Christmas eve with great family and a wonderful meal, opening xmas presents. I’d give anything to be able to do it one more time.

Comment by Stones Tuesday, Dec 22, 09 @ 8:37 am
Putting all the kids to bed and getting VanillaWife under the Christmas tree.

You just can’t wrap presents like that, baby!

Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Dec 22, 09 @ 8:41 am
I remember a few awesome toys, like getting a Major Matt Mason space station playset, slot cars, or electric trains, but really what I recall most and best now is hearing mom and grandma singing the old carols from the Old Country, and everybody being happy, having a great home-cooked meal together, and getting along, at least for the one night.

Comment by A noni moose Tuesday, Dec 22, 09 @ 8:41 am
When I was in 8th grade my folks got me a chain saw as a gag gift (I had said that’s what I wanted). I figured it was just the box but inside was an actual chain saw. Returned it to Sears the next day…

Guess you can get where I get my sense of humor from.

Comment by OneMan Tuesday, Dec 22, 09 @ 8:47 am
My youngest son telling his Grandmother that Santa really doesn’t like milk and cookies - he prefers a cold beer and beef jerkey. I have no idea who told him that!

Comment by Beerman Tuesday, Dec 22, 09 @ 8:47 am
Driving seven hours in an ice storm, for what turned out to be the last Christmas with my siblings and our mother several years ago. The ice storm knocked out all the power, so our Christmas Eve and morning were by candlelight and a wood-burning stove. My children still remember that Christmas and the magic of Santa finding Grandma’s house in an ice storm.

Comment by Interested Observer Tuesday, Dec 22, 09 @ 8:58 am
The gathering of friends for the annual Illini/Missry game always starts the fun.

I love spending Christmas Eve morning shopping with my three daughters. They explain to me why I’m not “cool” enough to know what to buy their mother and why we have stop for $3.00 cup of coffee instead of my usual gas station .75 cup.

I get a little teary when I see them shopping for their mother and think that when we started this tradition of shopping on Christmas Eve they were in car seats. As we head home I start looking forward to next year’s trip.

Later in the day we may head to Church and celebrate the birth of Christ as a family.

If you have little ones, enjoy every second of this time of year. They grow up way too quick.

Comment by Give Me A Break Tuesday, Dec 22, 09 @ 9:02 am
Sorry about the double-post, something wierd just went on the first didn’t show up.

Merry Christmas

Comment by Give Me A Break Tuesday, Dec 22, 09 @ 9:09 am
This isn’t a favorite, but the first vivid memory that sprang to mind was Richard J. Daley’s death the week before Christmas 1976. (Which then brought to mind Harold Washington’s death over Thanksgiving eleven years later. What is it with Chicago mayors and the holidays?)

Comment by Boone Logan Square Tuesday, Dec 22, 09 @ 9:45 am
v-man! that was awesome!

other than being at my grandparents’ for each and every thankgiving and christmas (which have a lot of great memories in and of themselves) the memory that stands out for me the most was christmas 1982. i was young. my brother was younger and, along with my mom who raised us by herself, we were broke. i mean beyond broke. still, somehow, she managed to pull of the most memorable christmas i have ever had. thanks, mom.

Comment by colt 45 Tuesday, Dec 22, 09 @ 10:00 am
First fav memory - when we surprised Little Little E #2 with a bicycle he just knew he would never ever get. It was his dream bike and it was there on Christmas morning.

Second fav memory - DISNEYWORLD - there’s no place like it on earth for Christmas and it was the family + grandma in ‘85.

Hard to classify this memory with a number, but it may really be the all-time fav - Thanksgiving dinners with the whole extended family at Giant City Park Lodge. Watching the kids climb the water tower after eating, even the very first time when Little Little E #2 thought he was a really big boy and climbed it by himself, with Dad extremely close behind (LLE2 was only 2 himself). Daring little guy wasn’t he?

Lots of good memories for holidays and I would take up way too much space here listing even the most memorable ones.

Comment by Little Egypt Tuesday, Dec 22, 09 @ 10:06 am
Getting up at 4am with my brother and finding that 100 figure toy soldier set with a big bag of rubber bands to knock them down. We developed very good aim with those rubber bands, which is a totally impractical skills our wives hate and the kids love. Later in the day going to Uncle Bob’s house for a huge dinner (which created an addiction to buttered hot dinner rolls) then cramming 40 relatives into a basement with gifts for everyone. Almost all the aunts/uncles are gone now and the cousins are spread all over the country. Fabulous time we all laugh about now.

Comment by zatoichi Tuesday, Dec 22, 09 @ 10:06 am
My grandparents had moved to Washington, D.C. in 1963 so we went there for Christmas, my first trip to the nation’s capitol. Went to the JFK gravesite, not yet a month old, and saw lots of other D.C. sites. Lots of snow there that Christmas. Still got many of the B&W pics I took on my old camera.

Comment by Deep South Tuesday, Dec 22, 09 @ 10:15 am
Zatoichi,

Thanks for the idea! Tonight I’m gonna buy my Grandson a huge bag o rubberbands. I’m not sure who will have the most fun…him, his Dad, his Grandpa or me! I love to play rough with boys. They will be staying with us for a few days. I will tell Grandson to bring his soldiers. FUN FUN FUN!

V-man, just thinking about your post makes my back hurt. Must have been when you were younger. lol Made me laugh too.

Comment by Say WHAT? Tuesday, Dec 22, 09 @ 10:18 am
the year Santa got my brother and me an Atari, and we spent all day playing Frogger with our grandparents!

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Tuesday, Dec 22, 09 @ 10:18 am
Getting a brand new baby doll in her own baby crib—the crib was already assembled and the doll was in it when I woke up on Christmas morning. The crib was pink and white. Perfect! the baby doll was the size of a real newborn baby, so having a crib for her made her seem all the more real.

It was excellent because it solved the past problem of waking up in morning only to find my baby doll(s) on the floor because it (they) fell out of my bed overnight.

when i got too old for toys, christmas has just never really seemed the same; not nearly as fun as fun as al of the the toy getting years.

Comment by Will County Woman Tuesday, Dec 22, 09 @ 10:36 am
Gathered and packed into grandparents’ farmhouse each Christmas morning. Grandpa handed each of us 21 grandchildren a card which he (not Grandma) had signed with a fountain pen, and each card had a big heavy old silver dollar inside. He urged us to save them, so we’d “always have something”. As one of the younger grandchildren I only amassed seven of the coins before he died and the tradition did, too. They are treasures to me and I keep them in the bank safety deposit box. Each time I need something and the bank associate pulls the box from its high shelf in the vault—it tips a little, and I hear the silver dollars jingling long before the lock box is actually in my hands. Of course, that sound always causes me to think of Grandpa and to remember those magical childhood Christmases. Best of all, I believe that’s exactly what he had in mind.

Comment by Responsa Tuesday, Dec 22, 09 @ 10:41 am
Chinese food on Christmas Eve when all the world seemed to be Jewish.

Comment by Rod sez I'm pork Tuesday, Dec 22, 09 @ 10:42 am
building lego ships with dad.

Comment by shore Tuesday, Dec 22, 09 @ 10:44 am
Grade school choir, in robes, with real candles, singing “O Holy Night” at midnight mass.
Christmas tree lights reflected in my mother’s eyes.
The first gift every Christmas eve - Christmas pajamas!

Comment by My Kind of Town Tuesday, Dec 22, 09 @ 11:08 am
V-man, just thinking about your post makes my back hurt. Must have been when you were younger. lol Made me laugh too.

When I was younger? We’re supposed to stop with that tradition sometime? The kids aren’t even in pre-school!

Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Dec 22, 09 @ 11:10 am
As a kid, we always went to church on Chrismas Eve then came home and opened stocking gifts while watching the “Yule Log” on WPIX-TV. I grew up in an apartment in Jersey so the Yule Log was the closest thing to a fireplace we had.

Fast forward to a few years ago when my wife and I were wrapping and getting ready to put the kids presents under the tree. Lo and behold, what comes on channel 9 but the original WPIX Yule Log bringing with it a flood of childhood memories and a tear to my eye.

Comment by Bluefish Tuesday, Dec 22, 09 @ 11:13 am
Airing of Grievances and Feats of Strength….

And of course seeing newest members of the family rip open dozens of gifts then try to eat the wrapping paper and ignore the gifts.

Comment by Pre Tuesday, Dec 22, 09 @ 11:15 am
Skiing in waist deep powder snow and spending time with the family around a roaring fire.

Comment by Plutocrat03 Tuesday, Dec 22, 09 @ 11:16 am
Christmas at my parents with my mother (an early bird Irish lady who woke up talking) going up and down the hallway outside the bedrooms running the electric toothbrush, trying to wake everyone up.

My dad, who only cooked on Thanksgiving and Christmas, making the traditional turkey dinner with all the trimmings from memory watching his mother cook it all those years ago in Pennsylvania. I especially liked him sewing the stuffing inside the turkey with strong black thread and a big curved needle.

Comment by 32nd Ward Roscoe Village Tuesday, Dec 22, 09 @ 11:27 am
Singing “Away in a Manger” for the school production and my mother wondering if it was appropriate (she was Christian, I’m not) and Fa saying–If Barbra can sing “Ave Maria” my little girl can sing “Away in a Manger”!

Comment by cermak_rd Tuesday, Dec 22, 09 @ 11:46 am
“When I was younger? We’re supposed to stop with that tradition sometime?”

Hey, middle-aged or even old doesn’t mean dead

About 10 years ago I had my entire side of the family over to our home (we owned a rambling farmhouse that was perpetually under renovation) for Christmas. There were only 10 people involved in all — myself, husband, my daughter, my parents, my brother, and two first cousins, one of whom was married and had a young daughter. My family never did big holiday gatherings — this was my husband’s idea — I didn’t know what to expect, and I was a nervous wreck getting the house clean, getting the food ready, etc. To top it all off I had a bad cold and felt like death warmed over. Well, today I think of that as one of the best Christmases I ever had. It was the only time my side of the family ever got together like that until my dad passed away last year.

Comment by Secret Square Tuesday, Dec 22, 09 @ 11:46 am
Christmas eve as a child. Celebrated in Swedish style all day. Then to church well before the 11pm candle lit service - standing room only. Our minister wrote his sermon as a story about the birth as a person who was there. It was spell binding. Then 1974 - Christmas day - my children were under 1 year old - grandpa came walking down the street in the snow dressed as Santa - bringing presents - my children were standing in the door watching with their cousins behind them.

Comment by um Tuesday, Dec 22, 09 @ 12:08 pm
As an eight or nine year old, waking up before dawn, going downstairs with my siblings, and seeing a huge sign under the tree saying “Go Back to Bed, You’re Too Early.” Scared the bejeebers out of us.

Comment by Muskrat Tuesday, Dec 22, 09 @ 12:28 pm
I went to the Music Box (not far from Wrigley Field) last year to see Its a Wonderful Life with mother-in-law. They do a sing-a-long before the show. They changed the words for the 12 Days of Christmas with the main refrain “a partridge in a pear tree” changed to “no more George Bush.” The crowd really went nuts singing the refrain. My republican mother-in-law’s mouth dropped to the floor. She couldn’t get over the fact that people didn’t like Pres. Bush. He was still popular with her friends and family. She was a good sport and sang along but swore us to never tell anyone back home.

Comment by Objective Dem Tuesday, Dec 22, 09 @ 1:00 pm
Merry Christmas to all. LE, is LLE1 still serving in the military?

Christmas Eve Mass with daughters in the choir.
Dinner featuring Saputo’s lasagna and then gift time.

Savor every moment with the little ones. Time passes quickly.

Comment by Arthur Andersen Tuesday, Dec 22, 09 @ 1:07 pm
My brother (who was about 5 at the time) got a game that included plastic handcuffs. He immediately put them on. Then he realized that there wasn’t a key in the box. Ultimately we had to go to K-mart to have them open another game to get keys. If I’m remembering right, he was still in his pajamas because there was no way to change into clothes with the handcuffs on.

Comment by Objective Dem Tuesday, Dec 22, 09 @ 4:00 pm
In December 2005 I received Peter Thompson’s annualy family Christmas card; which was a photo of his family; with a cityscape backdrop, decked out in complete White Sox regalia with a capton that read:

Joy to the World Series

I kept it; with all my other World Series souveniers.

As silly as this may sound to some; and perhaps spiteful to fans of that other team in town, that one World Championship experience may be one of the greatest gifts I have ever received, at a time when I really needed something positive, and the card was just another great reminder of just how special that was.

Merry Christmas one and all; and especially the Thompson family.

Comment by Quinn T. Sential Tuesday, Dec 22, 09 @ 4:58 pm
this has to be my favorite post of the year.

Comment by Moving to Oklahoma Tuesday, Dec 22, 09 @ 11:38 pm