Christmas Memories
By, John M. Goralka
Sacramento, CA
Christmas was always a special and almost magical time when I was young. Growing up in a big family, 5 brothers and 3 sisters, there was always increasing excitement and anticipation for Christmas Morning. We would go to church on Christmas Eve. My family generally took up an entire row at church.
Christmas Morning, my parents were typically the last to wake up and were often woken up by the youngest kids being too excited to wait any longer. Decades later, when I was a father, I learned that my parents were certainly up late assembling and wrapping presents.
My Mom was always certain to have a large box of See’s candy/chocolates to pass around while we opened presents. For many years we noticed that someone was pushing in the bottoms of some chocolates. For decades, we were unable to catch the culprit. Only when many of us were adults with kids or on our own did we learn that my Mom was guilty and was searching for her favorite cream fillings.
We always started with stockings which we laid by the fireplace. Stocking presents were smaller items, joke gifts, and candies or treats. All were wrapped to maximize the excitement and fun of opening a gift. Stocking gifts often included items from the “science” stores that used to be in the malls, such as plastic eyeballs, gloves and unusual, interesting or funny items. My brother, Mark, received a talking fish mounted to a plaque. My brother Joe got me a jogging bra because he wanted me to return it and say it was the wrong size.
We usually decorated the tree together and we all helped from a young age. Boxes of ornaments would be pulled out with a hodgepodge of fancy to family heirlooms and homemade ornaments by the kids. In those days, the silver icicle strands were popular and I loved tossing those onto the tree. Because we had so many kids, there were usually more on the bottom half of the tree than at the top.
If you needed school supplies, paper, socks, underwear or anything else, you could plan on receiving that at Christmas, wrapped and under the tree. With nine (9) kids in the family and my Mom’s goal of maximizing gifts under the tree, the tree was truly on an island surrounded by a mound of gifts. The site alone was extremely exciting for all of us.
As we got older, my Mom would have mimosa’s available. For the youngest kids, my Mom would have sparkling apple cider. One memorable year when many of us were there with our own kids, my Mom and Dad bought fireman hats complete with a siren and flashing red lights. There were 7 or so grandkids all running around with the sirens blaring. My siblings and I took wagers on which of us would remove the batteries first.
The end of the year can be exceedingly busy for us all. That is especially true for me as a tax attorney. Year-end business issues must be dealt with at year end and cannot wait until the new year. Perhaps because of the extreme and financial time demands at year-end, I truly love the Christmas holidays, when you can finally relax knowing that the job is done. Wishing you all a very merry Christmas and the opportunity to appreciate our many blessings and to be thankful for family and friends.
I hope you enjoy my Christmas Memories photos below.
John Goralka is the lead attorney and founder of the Goralka Law Firm, P.C., and is an experienced Sacramento estate planning and tax planning lawyer. For help in Sacramento with estate planning, business planning or tax planning, please contact our office.