Christmas is about family. Even the lights, trees, holiday pageants and everything else all involve family.
When I was a kid, Christmas was such a joyous time, mainly because my papa let go his rage long enough to enjoy the holidays. He’d don a suit to play Santa Claus and went around with a big smile to let us know he was having as much fun as we were.
After I got married, we observed the family traditions, like a big turkey dinner, presents under the tree. But we were so poor. I remember especially dreading Christmas in 1956. My husband had been out of work and we’d had to move in with my mother for a few months.
Finally, about three months before Christmas, Jerry found a job in Rogers at Wendt Sonis where he made $1 an hour. After paying $35 a month rent for a small apartment, buying groceries and paying utilities, we didn’t have any money left to buy presents. I’d been poor all my life, but I never felt so poor as that year. We hadtwo little boys and another child on the way.
A few weeks before Christmas Jerry and I took three-year-old Danny and one-year-old Billy out into the woods to cut down a tree. I let them help me make ornaments to decorate it. Our church had a party and gave all the children fruit and candy. But we had no money for gifts.
Around the first of December, my husband brought home an invitation to his company’s Christmas dinner. I put on my nicest dress and Jerry donned a tie. A neighbor watched our boys so we could have a rare night out. We walked up the long steps and entered the Harris Hotel where the party was held. Tables were decorated so festively.
The manufacturing plant had only been in Rogers for one year and this was the first party they’d given for their employees. I didn’t know what to expect.
After dinner, the management gave speeches. What a surprise when they began passing out bonus checks. Of course, I didn’t think my husband would get one since he’d worked there such a short time. But soon his name was called. He got a check for $10! We both looked at each other and said, "For the boys’ Christmas!"
The next day we went to Oklahoma Tire and Supply and purchased two little wood rocking chairs for $5 apiece. Christmas morning our boys were wide-eyed when they saw their gifts under our tree. I could hardly get them out of those chairs all day.
Through the years, one of those rockers disappeared and I gave the other one to my sister Betty when she had her child. She painted the wood and made cute little yellow pillows for it. Her daughter rocked in the chair many years.
After my granddaughter was born, my sister returned the rocker to us. When my grandchild rocked in it, I remembered the year that an unexpected bonus gave our boys a Christmas and our family an heirloom.
I guess it’s not surprising that Christmas is a family time. After all, the one whose birth we celebrate on Dec. 25 was born into the most famous family of all time.
Marie Putman is a former Gravette resident and regular contributor to the Westside Eagle Observer.
Opinion, Pages 7 on 12/19/2012