Opinion: Reflections of merry Christmas' past

It’s the night before Christmas, on the High Plains of Texas,

And I ain’t getting a Porsche or even a Lexus.

But under the tree in a neatly wrapped box,

Is my usual present, skivvies and sox.

That’s what I got in my days as a child,

Gifts were more useful, not rad and not wild.

But that’s what we got, usually something essential,

Maybe something from Santa, with some help, providential.

With a wee stroke of luck, we all got a toy,

Girls prayed for dolls, cap guns for the boys.

But the good Sisters knew that guns were not good,

So we settled for trucks, bright colored, made of wood.

Us kids traded gifts, we gave what we could,

Not anything grand, we all understood,

That you gave what you had to your very best chum,

Maybe a marble, or a thin stick of gum.

Now don’t get me wrong, this time wasn’t dreary,

I will say some of the small kids got teary.

But 6-year-old boys have got to be tough,

And we were all made of much sterner stuff

The chapel was wreathed in trees with blue light

The music was lovely, the creche looked just right.

The little kids dozed, some barely awake,

Midnight Mass can be a long day to take.

My sister and I, once a few years ago,

Went back to Sioux City, why we did, I don’t know.

The building was gone, the nuns have all passed,

We stood on the hill as the memories flowed past.

A tree was still standing where one day in the snow,

I hit it head on, with my sled, what a blow!

My sister asked, “Is that the tree you hit with your sled?”

I said “Yes,” she replied, “We all thought you were dead.”

Through no fault of our own, we were in a sad plight,

But we were in it together and that made it all right.

My tale of Christmas past, is done,

Happy Christmas to all, God bless everyone.

Now I’ll go check the tree and look for the box,

That I know for sure will have skivvies and sox.

Rube Render is a former Clovis city commissioner and former chair of the Curry County Republican Party. Contact him:

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