4th Day of Christmas Memories

The funny thing about memories is that they are only as true as the perceptions we have at the time. The Christmas of 1987 was a completely different one for me than the Christmas of 1987 my mother remembers.

In the summer of 1987, we left Spokane, Washington for Ogden, Utah. We moved into a 3-story townhouse in a neighborhood chock-full of them. My dad was going to school at Weber State University to obtain teaching endorsements on his Master's Degree. We only lived in Ogden for one year, but I absolutely loved it. I loved my 3rd grade teacher Mrs. Hanebut. I loved our next-door neighbors, the Eskelsons. And I loved my best friend Katie Roghaar who lived in our same ward. Here's what I don't remember about living in Ogden that my mom does: we were very poor. At that time of my life, I always thought we were rich! And that one aspect is the big difference between her memories versus mine.

Here's my memories from that Christmas season:
I remember Aunt Candi came and stayed with us overnight at the beginning of December so she could do some Christmas shopping in Salt Lake. I asked her why she couldn't just shop in Boise where she lived, and she said there were so many more stores in Utah. I couldn't comprehend that at the time because Boise felt huge to me whenever we visited, but I didn't tell her that. She brought me back a purple-heart-bead necklace from her shopping spree before she went back home, and I loved that necklace dearly.

I remember going Christmas-tree shopping at a Tree Lot, but not buying a single one.I remember sitting in our Volkswagen Bus driving down Riverdale Road with the whole family, and coming home empty-handed from the excursion.

On Christmas Eve, I remember someone leaving a box on our doorstep labeled "from Secret Santa" with gifts inside for us. My gift inside the box was a large, plush My Little Pony with turquoise hair and a bright pink mane & tail. I loved playing with that doll and I kept it for years. That same day, I remember a man bringing a Christmas tree to us, and we were delighted! I remember having so much fun decorating it because I thought we weren't going to have a Christmas tree at all!

I remember waking up on Christmas morning to find that Santa had brought me a Space Barbie and a Cabbage Patch doll. I was so excited!! When I was 8, there were no toys in the world I loved more than Barbies and Cabbage Patch dolls. I played barbies daily with my sisters and my neighbors, and I was so happy to have a new barbie to add to the collection. Space Barbie had a maroon and silver shiny body suit, and it was such a perfect barbie for me because when I was in the 3rd grade, I wanted to be an astronaut when I grew up. I loved Space Barbie! And my new Cabbage Patch doll was gorgeous. She had red-brown hair, and a light-blue dress with mini pale-pink flowers all over it. That particular Cabbage Patch was perfect, too, because when I saw what her name was, I couldn't believe it. The name on her birth certificate was "Michaela Imelda". My first name is also Michaela, and it was spelled the exact same way. I had never met anyone yet with the exact same name as me, and I loved how it made me feel to have a doll with the exact same spelling as my name! I loved Christmas morning because I was so ecstatic with what Santa had brought me.

Here's my mom's memories of that Christmas season:

In early December, our dryer broke. Money was very tight: dad was going to college, and the only income we had was his army retirement. Dad purchased a new dryer with cash, but then there wasn't enough money left to afford Christmas. 

My mother recounts, "I decided we would wait until a couple days before Christmas to buy our tree as they are usually really cheap then. We went to buy the tree in the evening, but there was no attendant there. So we went back the next morning, Christmas Eve day, and the trees had already been loaded on a truck to be hauled away. The man told us that if we had come earlier he would have just given us a tree free, but he couldn't unload the truck. So we went home and I felt awful.

"The Bishop dropped by to see us. He noticed we didn't have a tree. I explained to him what I had done. He went straight to a store and got us a tree. He claims it was free. So we had fun decorating it on Christmas Eve.

"With money being so tight, I had to be careful what we got for Christmas. I had been watching the Cabbage Patch dolls dwindle in the store as I was agonizing over whether I should buy you three girls the dolls or not. They were quite expensive for us in our situation, but I couldn't imagine a Christmas without a doll. Every time I went to the store I had to walk by a display of some darling dolls that talked--they cost nearly $100, and lots of people were buying them. My heart sank every time I had to walk by them.

"I debated about the dolls so long that when I finally decided to go ahead and get the dolls, I had to sort through the display to find dolls with long hair--and to my amazement, there were exactly three dolls left! All the others were baby dolls with not much hair, and they weren't very cute.

"I took the three dolls home and on Christmas Eve I decided which doll should go to which girl. I finished the stacks and sat back to admire my work. Only then did I read the names of the dolls. And the doll for you was named Michaela Imelda. I couldn't believe it!! She was really meant to be your doll. It brought me much happiness that Christmas Eve."

My mom added, "I hope you will always remember that the amount of gifts you give or receive is not important--but the feelings of love behind them. I am so glad you felt we were rich then. We tried to spend more time with you children, and in that way we were rich. But truthfully is was our poorest time. A little girl up the street got one of those talking dolls and brought it to show you girls. Her parents were always working and she was left to fend for herself. I felt we were richer than them because we had each other and love".

Christmas of 1987 was purely magical for me, and it was the Spirit of Christmas that made it such a memorable one. Because of my mother's love, and the generosity of our Bishop, it was a Christmas that will always be remembered.