Christmas Memories

Never received one either... I have a raunchy twelve days of Christmas... But yes some chess gifts are appropriate...😊

I was aboard a missile submarine in my Navy days... We made deterrence patrols that lasted around 2.5 months... One particular patrol we were in the North Atlantic from mid November until past New Year's... So we missed our families for Thanksgiving... Christmas and New Year's... But it was our duty... It helped a little when we got famillygrams... Our families were mailed forms that contained up to 20 words to be filled in... Once one was filled it was mailed back to fleet... Then they were radioed to our boat by a continuous signal feed... It was so good to get precious words from home...😊

Wow Bill, that was a sacrifice....I thought I had it bad when I was in basic and missed the super bowl.

I remember one Christmas when I was a little guy when my sister said she saw Santa's sleigh flying up in the sky , she had me looking through my window all night . Little did I know at the time.

That's a great one Pat...😊

On a submarine... Stealth is life... Noise is death...☠️

For many years I had a standing invite for Christmas Eve dinner at my Aunt's and Uncle's home... Was always a special dinner... Franny started us with oyster stew... I love oysters... She saved a few raw for her and I... Always went to the 1100 pm church service afterwards... One particular Christmas Eve I was driving my pickup to the church... Was like -5° and several inches of frozen snow on the roads... Anyways my truck broke down on the way... My cousin was sent to look for me... Truck had to be towed and my cousin was nice to drive me home... I was bummed because I was to go to my girlfriend Ginny's house Christmas day... A short while after the Holidays my aunt reminded me if it broke down on the way that there were fewer people and cars on the road... That it would have been much more traumatic... For me Christmas Eve is more of a special day... Maybe because of the dinners I had with them... I still have an invite for whenever I'm visiting...😊

I got out of the Navy in January 1975... It was a particularly hard winter in New York State... A big recession was going on... I was collecting unemployment and at the office lines were out the door... Wasn't much you could do other than wait it out... There were no smart phones at that time to occupy yourself... I was really in the sauce at the time... Was bar hopping everyday... I even lost my license for DUI... The penalty was much less severe then... Christmas Eve came around and I realized I didn't get my parents anything for Christmas... So me buzzing I went slopping through slush to go downtown and try to find something... I went into a department store that was pretty much picked clean... But I noticed a couple of wooden wall plaques... They were of Hawaiian style... Shaped like pineapples with a boy and girl in each with palm trees... I thought why not... I returned from Hawaii when I was discharged... My dad has passed but my mom still has them hanging on the wall...😊

I think back to 1984. One of my favorite Seasonal songs is I Believe In Father Christmas. Was driving to Rochester to get youngest brother home from college. It was quite wintery I remember. On the way I heard that song. That memory stuck with me. Because, life was still an adventure. At the time I was working at Kmart in Cortland as a restaurant manager. My younger brother was getting married on December 23, so it was up to Perry so I could be best man. That too was memorable. The altar area was a sea of white poinsettias. The lady pastor also provided the music. In the middle of the ceremony she breaks out a guitar and sings a couple of songs. Quite nice. I also had plans to take off Christmas Eve. That was so I could drive to my Aunt and Uncle's for our traditional Christmas Eve dinner. When I got back to to work the store manager came to me. He was not too pleased with me taking off Christmas Eve. Oh well, all water over the dam now.😉

Well Tony... That could be both good and bad.🤔😁

Maybe that was why I don't remember all of them.🤔

i hope santa gets me a new chess set

He just might Tycho.😉

Merry Christmas to all. And the blessings that go with the season.😀