I have been a sleep technologist since 2013. In all those years, I have never been so moved by a patient’s kind gesture – until yesterday. I walked into the tech room and found a tall green gift bag on the counter, It had a sticky note on it that read, “Keith – from your patient from last night.”
I admit I was confused. Why would a patient who lived some miles away drive all the way back to our lab to drop off something for me?
Now let me enlighten you to the events of that evening. I only had one patient, a four year old girl. Any child who is under five is usually a one on one patient. Depending on the child, they can really be a handful.
When I went to get my patient from the waiting room, I could tell she was a bit anxious. As we walked to her room, I tried to put her at ease by telling her that she’d be getting a lot of stickers put on her and a rainbow pony tail (the EEG wires are multicolored). When she entered the room, she put her Bluey blanket on the bed with her teddy bear.
I stepped out while her mom did the paperwork and when it looked like they were ready, I went in to begin hooking her up for the study. As I always do, I got down on my knees and pinky promised that there would be “no hurts or shots” tonight. I showed her the wires and let her touch them to see that they didn’t hurt. I let her touch the cleaner, the past, and tape that I would be using. This is so helpful in getting them on your side.
She had Bluey pajamas on and as I put the equipment on I asked her about the cartoon. Who was her favorite character? I would tell her who mine was. I asked if she was ready for Christmas, she nodded. I told her that she was exactly one day older than my son, which made her smile. It was simple conversation – no different than I would do for any other pediatric patient.
There are a couple pieces of equipment that all kids hate. There is a cannula that goes in the nose and a sticker that sits under the nose. They both are there to monitor breathing. It took a bit of sweet talking, but she did allow me to put them on after a bit. Once she was hooked up, I plugged everything in and left the room to let her sleep.
When I went to wake her up in the morning, I dabbed all the tape with adhesive remover so the tape would not hurt when I pulled it off. I then got the rest of the equipment off her, gave her mom a towel and washcloth to help clean her up before she left.
Her mom thanked me for making the study less stressful for her daughter. I told her I was glad to do it. I handed my patient some Bluey stickers and explained follow up stuff before wishing them Happy Holidays and safe travels back home. They had left the building by the time I went back to the room to see if they needed anything.
Now this is a pretty normal night for me. I didn’t feel as though I did anything different than I would for someone else. So to see this bag when I walked in really had me wondering what it was all about.
When I looked inside the bag, there were a couple metal cars and a couple small monster trucks. This confused me more. It was then that I noticed the card inside.
“I wanted to take a moment to sincerely thank you for the exceptional care and kindness you showed my daughter during her sleep study. From the very beginning you went above and beyond to make us feel comfortable, safe and supported. As a parent it is incredibly meaningful to see someone treat your child with such genuine compassion. It is clear that you are truly in the right field. Please accept this small token of appreciation for your and your son as a thank you from our hearts.”
I cannot even begin to tell you how this wonderful note took my breath away. It brought tears to my eyes as I read these words of thanks and praise. I’m not sure why it hit me the way it did. As I said, I don’t think I did anything different than I would for someone else. I was simply doing my job.
I guess you don’t really know the impact that you make on a person. I am so glad to have made the night an easy one for them. I am happy to know that I passed along a smile to such a sweet and kind family. I plan on sitting down and writing a thank you card/letter to send their way. I hope that I can find the right words to express my gratitude and explain just how much their words meant to me.
In a world that is filled with hatred, despair, and anger, it warms my heart to know that there are still people in this world that make it a better place with love and kindness.
*The majority of this blog was written in 2019 and has been updated with additional photos and stories.
(2025) The kids were watching some Mickey Mouse holiday special on Disney+ recently. I cannot recall the name of the song, but some of the lyrics are a perfect lead in to this blog:
“Every time I see a Christmas tree Something lights up inside of me My heart is filled with electricity There’s reason to cheer Christmas is nearly herе“
Radio stations across the country will often begin playing all Christmas music after Thanksgiving. The adult contemporary station I worked at always did. Of course, Sirius XM’s Christmas music channels also start popping up around the same time or earlier.
(2019) One song always really sticks out to me each Christmas, mainly because it really isn’t a Christmas song – Linus & Lucy (AKA the Charlie Brown theme) from the Vince Guaraldi Trio. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a fun song that immediately makes be think of Charlie Brown and the gang, but it is a song that is used in basically every Charlie Brown special. Personally, the soundtrack to the Charlie Brown Christmas special is one of my favorites.
O Tannenbaum is the instrumental that kicks off the album. Many know the song as simply “Oh Christmas Tree”. (In case you were wondering, a tannenbaum is a fir tree). It’s one of my favorite versions of the song. I had the chance to hear it over the weekend and it got me to thinking about the Christmas Tree. I recently had the chance to go through a bunch of family pictures and I was surprised at how many of them included the Christmas tree. This blog is sort of a “pictorial” blog featuring some of those pictures.
As I looked through the pictures, it was fun to see the various decorations and the toys under the tree. Bear with me, as some of the years I am guessing on …
The above picture is of my dad in 1951. He would be 5 here. As I look at this picture, I see a little of me, my brother, and my oldest son in my dad.
The above picture is my mom. Just a guess, but this is probably from 1953 or 1954, as she looks 5-6 years old here. I think it is cute that she seems to be in pajamas and wearing dress shoes. Tinsel seemed to be really big in the 50’s! There’s quite a bit on this tree. I wonder what that “Little Painter” set is worth today….
The above picture is my dad, home on leave from Vietnam. The date is 1967. I really have no idea what that tree is made of. Eventually, my grandma had a ceramic tree that my mom made that stood about as high as the one in the photo. That would sit proudly in the same spot in the front window. This one looks … fluffy, and seems to have a strand of lights on it. Anyway, there are other pictures of my dad with both his mom and his dad next to this tree, too.
My folks told me that the local paper used to put names and addresses of servicemen who were overseas in the paper for people to send letters. Both of my parents were from the same city and my mom sent my dad letters. That is basically how they met and eventually marry. With those letters, occasional pictures were sent back and forth.
I think the above picture is one my mom sent to my dad. I am not 100% sure. I am not sure because I don’t know where this was taken. It would seem to me that this would be a picture that she would send to my dad overseas. There are some things that really jump out at me in the picture. Note the “sunbust” clock on the wall – I know my grandma had one of those. Also, note the cool Hi-Fi with the ceramic cat on it. This was a record player and radio. It probably also played 8 track tapes and stored records. I know my dad, and my grandpa each had one of them.
I know for a fact that this was taken at my grandma’s house. I know this because of the fireplace and the huge wooden fork and spoon on the wall behind the TV. In my lifetime, I don’t recall my grandparents ever putting a tree on the TV, so I am guessing this is before I came around.
One thing that really caught my eye is the “paper rack” between the fireplace and the TV. It seems like everyone in my family had one. After you finished reading the newspaper, you’d put it in the rack. Magazines would sometimes go there, too. When it got too full, they’d pull out a paper grocery bag and put everything in it to go out to the garbage.
I was born in May of 1970. I was 7 months old for my first Christmas. I am thankful that my folks took lots of pictures. A few of my favorites all come from 1970, all for different reasons.
The above picture is my and my great-grandpa. He passed away shortly after this. It is the only picture I have of him and I.
I am not 100%, but I believe this picture was taken in my mom and dad’s apartment. My dad can correct me if I am wrong. I remember that stuffed Bugs Bunny to my right very well.
I am pretty sure that this is at my grandma and grandpa’s house. What I love about this picture is a little foreshadowing. One of my favorite sports to participate in is bowling. I love that I am propped up next to a balling ball bag in this picture.
This is absolutely one of my favorite pictures of my mom and me. It was taken at my grandparents house, probably Christmas Eve. I love this picture so much, because it reminds me of another … which I will share in a few pictures.
The above is obviously from the same year. This time, I am with mom and dad. My grandma always kept her house hot, so mom took off her vest. Dad, who is ALWAYS hot, must not have felt it was too warm, because his is still on here.
One more from the same year (and you won’t have to look at that brown bowling ball bag anymore!), here is my and my grandpa. I always loved this picture of us. I was his first grandchild, and you can see just how happy he is here.
These are my mom’s parents – Grandma and Grandpa D. The date on the picture says 1970, but another scan from my brother says 1967. Not really sure. It could easily be 1970, though. It is one of my favorites of them. The tree is in the corner where my grandpa’s recliner used to always be.
The date on the above picture is October of 72, which means I am 1 here. This is at Grandma D’s house. That is my Aunt Jodi holding the bear. She is 5 years older than me. Note in the background, another Hi-Fi. My grandpa used to have big band records that I used to listen to with headphones.
The above picture was taken at our old house on Brandywine. I am about 4 here and my brother is probably just 2. The thing that stands out in this picture is the ornaments on the tree. See those diamond crocheted things? Yeah, my mom made them. She had many hobbies and this particular year, she was crocheting everything! I remember a maroon vest that she made for me. At any rate, those ornaments were two squares, with a piece of an egg carton in the middle, and a tail hanging down. I am sure she made these for many people. I remember seeing them on other family members Christmas trees.
A year later, same house, and same ornaments! You can see them a little better in this picture. I am probably 5 here, while my brother is 3. This would be the last Christmas at this house, as we moved the following year. A couple things (besides the ornaments) stand out in the picture. First, there is the organ I used to play, and mentioned in a past blog about my music lessons. Next, I remember those Ernie and Big Bird stuffed animals! Then there is that picture above the organ – it’s two horses. I think everyone in my family had that picture. Maybe a family member painted it? Finally, and this should get my wife’s OCD going, note that I am wearing the pants from one pair of PJs and the shirt from another in this picture! Good Lord!!!
The picture above has to be from 1977. My grandma bought us each a set of Star Wars figures that year. I think there were like 20 issued the first year. I remember my grandma having trouble finding the Jawa figures. This picture would have been Christmas morning, and we had gotten the figures the night before at grandma’s. If I remember right, we had the big Han Solo and Jawa dolls (pictured here) and Boba Fett and Princess Leia.
What I love most about this picture is that my mom is in it wearing this yellow robe. I have written about her yellow robe in previous blogs. She wore this thing SO much that it was stained and had tears and holes in it. She loved this robe. Eventually we bought her a new one for Christmas one year and she wore that. We assumed that she threw this one away, but after she passed away, we found it in the back of the closet! I have a “memory bear” made out of this robe.
The above has to be from 1978. If you can look past my brother’s golf pants and my wacky shirt, you will see a Tie Fighter and X-Wing Fighter. You can see the tree set up on the TV, but cannot really see the amazing display on my grandma’s mantel. Every year, she put up angels, Santa, reindeer, trees, snow and more. There was one piece that always stood out – a little mouse that was in a flower arrangement that I sent her when she was in the hospital. She put that up every year!
It obviously took my folks awhile to develop film! This is from Christmas of 78, and was not developed until August of 79! First, I love how skinny I am in this picture! Second, I remember having the sliding wooden doors that covered the doorwall. I have to chuckle because of the bowling trophy and chalice sitting on top of the door frame.
I also remember the bad paneling in the living room! I can see the Polaroid camera on the TV, the candy jar, and the glass candle sticks that my mom had. I wish I could make out more of the presents under the tree, but I remember really wanting this game. I also remember that star on the tree. It was made of hard plastic and the ends were very sharp! So sharp in fact, that it could probably be used as a weapon.
The above picture is of my dad’s folks, my Grandma and Grandpa P. This was in 1979 – I remember that was the year that everyone was taking Polaroids! At family gatherings, everyone took pictures and wrote their last name on the bottom, so they knew what pictures belonged to what family! A couple things I notice right away: The tree topper, I never understood just what the hell it was! It wasn’t a star, it was just this spaceship shaped thing that lit up! I remember the musical angels on the wall. They moved from room to room as I recall.
Then there is my Grandma’s beehive hair. She wore it this way for SO long! I also notice the pack of cigarettes in my grandpa’s pocket – you could bet they were either Lucky Strikes or Pall Malls. It looks like he is wearing a bracelet in this picture. I don’t remember him wearing one, but he did here. Just love this picture!!
The above is from 1980. This is my brother and me, with my cousins Arin and Melissa. This is at my Grandma and Grandpa D’s. A couple thoughts on this one – I am holding the very cool Coleco Head to Head Baseball game which I loved. I do not remember that bear I am holding! This is probably the year that my grandpa bought me my cribbage board, too! What is sad about this picture, is knowing that my grandpa would pass away in less than a year after this picture was taken.
Jumping many years ahead now for the above picture. Remember the picture of my mom and me by the tree from earlier? It reminds me of this picture. This is my mom and my oldest son, Dante’. This may not have been her last Christmas, I think Dante is 2 here. She loved him so much and I see the same joy in her smile here as I do in the picture of her holding me.
The above picture is about a year or so before my divorce. It’s my sons, Dante’ and Dimitri. I just love this picture because these two guys (no matter how much they may fight) really love each other. This was such a spontaneous picture and it remains one of my favorites of the boys!
The above picture is from Christmas Eve (2018) morning. Christmas Eve was always bigger than Christmas on my dad’s side of the family. The fact that I get the boys every Christmas Eve Morning to open up gifts is so special to me. I cannot wait until they can celebrate it with their sister (which would happen in February of 2020). They are going to be such great brothers to her.
The above picture is from 2018 (on the right) and 2017 (on the left). When we first got Moe (left) he got up in the tree! When Maizey came along in 2018, the fact that she was almost in the same exact spot as Moe the year before made me laugh. So I put together this comparison picture. It still makes me laugh!!
This picture (along with the song I mentioned earlier) was the reason for this blog. As I mentioned, so many favorite pictures involve the Christmas tree. I took this picture of Sam just the other night. It was her idea. The silhouette of her baby bump against the lights of the Christmas tree is just beautiful!! I posted it on Facebook (she did, too) and I mention how I cannot stop looking at it!
The reason is that it brings about so many feelings: Feelings of love for my beautiful wife. Feelings of joy and nostalgia – because it is Christmastime and the Christmas Tree. Feelings of excitement and anticipation – because the baby will be here soon. Feelings of happiness – because the picture brings a smile to my face every time I see it.
In the years ahead, I hope that more and more wonderful pictures will be captured near the Christmas tree … so I can reflect on them, too!
(2025)
Above are the boys in 2019. Dante’ would be graduating in June. Ella would be making her debut in about 2 months. I can see the ornament we got that year from Bronners. It is the cup of Hot chocolate with 5 marshmallows. Each marshmallow has our names on it – for the 5th one, it says “Baby P.”
Christmas in 2020 was strange because we were still technically in the middle of the pandemic. I was glad that everyone was well enough to be together on Christmas Eve. Ella’s first Christmas was extra special to me because with her being so young, it brought back a renewed love and excitement for the Christmas magic experienced by her.
Christmas of 2021 was fun because Ella was finally at a point where she was aware or presents and wanted to open them. It was Andrew’s first Christmas, and he was just a little over 2 months old. What I love about the above photo is her reaction to the presents under the tree. It has that “How did all these presents get here?” feel to it.
My wife almost always has the tree up Thanksgiving weekend. In 2022, Andrew was a little over a year old and he was curious about everything. Both kids were helping me that year. I was sure to give Andrew the honor of placing the tree topper that year.
I’m pretty sure that the kids had us up super early on Christmas morning of 2023. They both were excited that morning. The Barbie Castle and train table were huge hits. This photo reminds me of having to put them together into the wee hours of the morning. I just love their matching pajamas. I have to chuckle about the “cage” around the bottom of the tree to keep them and the cat away from the tree.
Last year, Christmas Eve. I love that Andrew and Ella are wearing Bluey pajamas. Bluey was a big show for them. Andrew was happy that they finally got to hold Twinkles, their elf, before he went back to the North Pole.
The boys were over earlier in the day. We always tried to get a picture in front of the tree every year. By last year, they’d grown so much that you can barely see the tree in the back. You can, however, see the snowman’s hat from the top of the tree – it makes Dante’ look like he is wearing it.
Surprisingly, I haven’t taken any picture of the kids by the tree this year. I’ll have to be sure to make that happen. I know we are trying to figure out when the boys will be able to get us all together.
The Christmas tree. It will forever be connected to warm feelings and memories for me. So that lyric I quoted earlier … it really expresses the truth:
“Every time I see a Christmas tree Something lights up inside of me My heart is filled with electricity There’s reason to cheer Christmas is nearly herе“
Well, the Christmas season is officially underway. I can assure you that I have NO plans to go out shopping today. I’m just built for stress like that. Anyway, since it is official, I thought I would search for a Christmas themed photo to feature.
A while back, my brother put all of the digital Christmas photos in a folder marked “Christmas Through the Years.” One of the first photos to pop up was this one;
It is pretty much all of the girls in the family. From left to right on top: Mom, Grandma, Aunt Linda. Bottom left to right: Arin, Aunt Jodi, Melissa. It is one of the few pictures with all the gals from my mom’s side in one photo.
The photo is taken at my Aunt Linda’s house. This was probably around 1981, just after my grandpa passed away. We usually had Christmas at my grandma’s. Occasionally, it would be at my Aunt Linda’s or our house. When it was at my aunt’s house, my uncle’s parents would often be there. They were Italian, and I just loved talking to his mom about Italy and Italian food.
My Aunt Linda gave me my first Bible as a Christmas gift one year. I wish I’d took it a bit more seriously then. She wrote something on the inside cover that has always stuck with me and makes more sense now than it ever did. She said, “Remember that this book has ALL the answers.”
My brother and I don’t see my cousins enough. I’m going to have to ask him to let me know when he comes up next time well in advance. We are over due to be together.
I know Christmas is over, but my neighbor still has his lights out, so here is a Christmas photo for this week’s Friday Photo Flashback. Christmas 1980.
What you have here is 10 year old Keith. (Good Lord, it’s Christmas! You’d have thought I would brush my hair!) I am holding the cribbage board that my Grandpa and Grandma D gave me. This would have been Grandpa’s last Christmas.
I don’t recall exactly when he started to teach me how to play cribbage. Maybe I was 8 or 9. I know I was easy to beat, as I often forgot to count things. My grandpa taught me how to play on his board. The board was old and I think he had it around the time of World War II. When he passed away, my grandma said he would have wanted me to have it. (I still do!)
If you beat him on his board, he let you sign the back of it. If memory serves me right, there are three signatures on it. One of his buddies, my dad, and me. I had bought a small board to play on and we played on it a couple times. If my grandpa “skunked” me, he got to sign the back of my board. The two games we played on my board – he won both times!
He used to call me Charlie. “Skunked Charlie on this board (date) H.D. And we know who Charlie is don’t we” is his first signing. The first allowed him to write a shorter bit next. “Did it again 12-31-80 – on New Year’s Eve!
I still have the “29” cribbage board. There are a couple signatures on the back from friends who have skunked me on my board, too.
At one point, I taught my second son, Dimitri, how to play, but he hasn’t been over for a while. I guess I will just have to teach Ella or Andrew how to play …
I’m not sure if I’ve ever posted this photo with me and Santa. According to my dad’s caption, I’m about 2 years old here.
There are a couple bonuses here. First, I am not crying. I do look terrified, but after all, it is Santa. I am also not wearing loud paisley print pants. I’m not sure corduroy is any better, but I’m told it was “in.”
All I see when I look at myself is big ears and big eyebrows. Lol.
I picked this picture because when my boys were over Christmas Eve, it came up as a Facebook memory. My middle boy was like “Who is that?!”. He couldn’t believe it was me!!
He kept staring at it. I told him to look at the eyebrows – those haven’t changed in years!!
He’s still not sure….
I’m sad we didn’t get to take the kids to get their picture with Santa this year. Things were just so busy.
With Christmas less than a week away, I found myself looking back at old Christmas photos. In many cases, there are photos of people that are no longer with us. For the ones I remember, I can look back on the photos and smile. For the ones that I don’t remember, I stare at the photos and wonder.
Case in point – the above photo was taken on Christmas 1970. In the photo I am just 7 months old. The man holding me is my Great Grandpa Becker. I only know him from photos. He would pass away just two months after these pictures were taken.
There may be other photos of him and I together, but these two are the only ones I remember. The lady standing next to us is my grandma, my great grandpa’s daughter. Despite not ever knowing him, I love the fact that he seems to be quite happy holding his great grandson. I wish I knew more about him.
Outside of the people in the photo, I do like looking at the background stuff. The first thing that screams out at me is the paneling. This may be in my grandparent’s basement, but I don’t know for sure. The Christmas tree is probably a real tree. It certainly looks that way. I seem to remember everyone having that type of tree topper as a kid.
In the picture with my grandma, those ducks on the wall I remember well. I may be mistaken, but they may have been hung on the wall of the trailer they had in Caseville long after this picture was taken. I also love that folks still dressed up for holidays. My great grandpa looks pretty spiffy in a suit. I know that there are other photos over the years where men wore suits and ties to Christmas dinner.
On that end table (which was common in SO many homes at that time) is an ashtray. An ashtray was a staple in homes when I was growing up. They pop up in SO many photos. I am going to guess that is an old beer bottle there, too. The thing that is funny about that photo is that I believe that may be an old phone book that the bottle is sitting on.
It is hard to tell, but it looks like a map of Michigan counties on the front. It also looks like the top pages are white (they would be residential numbers) and the bottom pages are yellow (the businesses). These were in every home. There was no Google back then. If you needed a number, you grabbed the yellow pages!
There are times that I wish that I could go back and look at past Christmases. You know, like Scrooge did in A Christmas Carol. I wouldn’t need to be seen or heard, I would just like to watch and observe those loved ones from the past. I would love to smell the dinner grandma was preparing. I would love to once again hear the voices of folks who I have forgotten what they sounded like. I’d love to hear my mother laughing again. I would love to relive the excitement that all of us kids felt when opening presents.
I wouldn’t go back to learn a lesson as Scrooge did. I would just like to experience it all – one more time.
I am truly surprised that December 12th is not an Italian holiday. It was on this day in 1915, that Frank Sinatra was born.
Frank is revered as Italian royalty. His voice made the women swoon. Men both respected him and were jealous of him.
Many biographies have been written about him, so I will not attempt to write one here. Instead, as we are in the middle of the Christmas season, I felt that a small Sinatra Holiday Playlist would be in order.
Here are some of my favorite Sinatra Christmas songs, as we tip our hats to one of the greatest vocalists ever…
Jingle Bells
The Christmas Waltz
Mistletoe and Holly
Let It Snow Let It Snow Let It Snow
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Christmas Memories
… And a couple with Bing
We Wish You the Merriest
Go Tell It On the Mountain
And because it is just fun to watch, one with Dean Martin…
Now that it is officially the Christmas season, I’d like to offer up a holiday read for you. If you are looking for a quick holiday mystery to read, let me offer up one to you. I stumbled on author Peter Swanson when “Eight Perfect Murders” came up as a suggestion on Goodreads. That led me to read a few of this other books (The Kind Worth Killing, The Kind Worth Saving, Nine Lives, etc…).
When I saw that he had a Christmas book, I added it to my “to read” list. It’s been on there since just after Christmas last year. Since all the decorations are up, I thought this would be a good book to read by the lights of the tree.
The book is a novella. It is something that I read in one sitting. It wasn’t as good as some of his other stuff, but there was still a big twist in there which helped boost my rating of the book.
Here is the Goodreads synopsis:
An American art student in London is invited to join a classmate for the holidays at Starvewood Hall, her family’s Cotswold manor house. But behind the holly and pine boughs, secrets are about to unravel, revealing this seemingly charming English village’s grim history.
Ashley Smith, an American art student in London for her junior year, was planning on spending Christmas alone, but a last-minute invitation from fellow student Emma Chapman brings her to Starvewood Hall, country residence of the Chapman family. The Cotswold manor house, festooned in pine boughs and crammed with guests for Christmas week, is a dream come true for Ashley. She is mesmerized by the cozy, firelit house, the large family, and the charming village of Clevemoor, but also by Adam Chapman, Emma’s aloof and handsome brother.
But Adam is being investigated by the local police over the recent brutal slaying of a girl from the village, and there is a mysterious stranger who haunts the woodland path between Starvewood Hall and the local pub. Ashley begins to wonder what kind of story she is actually inhabiting. Is she in a grand romance? A gothic tale? Or has she wandered into something far more sinister and terrifying than she’d ever imagined?
Over thirty years later the events of that horrific week are revisited, along with a diary from that time. What began in a small English village in 1989 reaches its ghostly conclusion in modern-day New York, many Christmas seasons later.
The book was a nice read while I waited for the one I had on hold. It wasn’t like some of his other books, but the twist caught me off guard. Once that happens, the rest of the story all falls into place.
I would have given the book 3.5 stars, but the twist brought it up to 4 stars for me.
Today’s Friday Photo Flashback takes us all the way back to……. yesterday!
Ok, maybe the photo doesn’t really qualify as Flashback, but the story is too funny not to share.
I’ve said this on numerous occasions – my brother Christopher and I could not be more different. However, there are some things where we share a common bond. One of those things we share in common is our love of Christmas and Classic Christmas Specials. The Year Without A Santa Claus is probably our favorite.
Recently, he sent me a picture of a set of dish towels that feature the Heat Miser and Snow Miser that they bought for their house. They are pretty cool. Yesterday I got a hold of this year’s Hallmark Ornament featuring the Miser Brothers and Mrs. Claus. I sent him a picture of me with it and before the night was over he sent me a photo in return.
Yeah, we couldn’t be more different, and we couldn’t be more the same!
We continue with my trial run of Share Your Nostalgia, an idea suggested to me by some fellow bloggers. The topic for this feature is “The Toy of Your Life.” Was there one toy that you considered the “best?” When you think of yourself as a child, what is the toy that immediately pops into your mind? What was the toy that you brought to Show and Tell or took with you everywhere?
We turn the blog over to my buddy, Randy Dafoe today. Randy is a fellow music lover and he and I happen to share a love for a good (and sometimes bad) cover song. His blog, Mostly Music Covers, is a daily read for me. Be sure to check him out here: https://mostlymusiccovers.com/
Will Randy opt for a musical toy like Nancy did yesterday? Take it away, Cowboy …..
The Toy of Your Life – Randy Dafoe
What was the “Toy of Your Life?”. What was that one toy that you carried with you everywhere, brought to show and tell, and made your friends envious of you? When you think back to your childhood, what is that one toy that sticks out as a favorite? Why was it? Why did you want it? How did you get it?
When Keith asked the above questions, I needed no time to think about which toy I was going to write about. It was my Roy Rogers toys. If you grew up from the 1940s through to the 60s it was a coveted thing to have the pair of Roy Rogers and his horse Trigger action figures.
If you don’t know who he was here is a song “Blue Shadows On The Trail” and a little background.
Roy Rogers (Leonard Franklin Slye, November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1998) was following the dusty trail blazed by the likes of Tom Mix and the great Gene Autry (where Rogers was at one time just his sidekick). However, Rogers would come to be known as the “King of the Cowboys”. A great singer who would go into acting and become the biggest singing and acting “Western Star” of all time.
Elton John & Bernie Taupin wrote a song about him, and it appeared on the Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album in 1973.
Being a star like that you inevitably have the merchandise. Back then lunch boxes were a big thing, but for me it was the Roy Rogers Cowboy figure and his faithful horse Trigger. I found a picture that shows it came with his dog Bullet (gotta love the original names) but I really don’t remember having it. At around seven years old Roy Rogers was like a hero to me. He had his own TV series that, like his Western movies were in reruns in the mid 60s. So, I got to watch his shows when we got our first TV in about 1965. Now one TV and eight people in the house, my time was rationed, thankfully my dad liked to watch Roy Rogers, which is where I picked it up to begin with. Roy was the prototypical good guy in the white hat who always did the right thing and saved the day.
So, I probably bugged my parents for the better part of a year before I got it for Christmas. I would pretend he was riding into various adventures and sometimes I just liked to look at it sitting on the floor of my room. I use the term ‘room’ generously, I actually didn’t have one at that time. My bed was on the landing at the top of the stairs in our little one and half story house. My sister’s had the room on the left and my two older brothers the room on the right. But there was plenty of space to play and as possessions were a rare thing, I coveted that Cowboy and horse for at least a couple of years.
But, as it is said in the song “A dragon lives forever, but not so little boys”. Roy and Trigger got put in a box. At first it was in the closet in my sisters (I have three of them) room and then to be honest I don’t know what happened to them. My mother made a healthy habit of donating our things. As the years passed Roy became less of a celebrity and to another little boy it was probably just a cowboy and horse. Needless to say, I have not forgotten Roy and Trigger, nearly 60 years later I can still picture myself on the floor and having the time of my life making up my own cowboy stories.
Thanks, Keith, for the opportunity to reminisce and share a story about my favorite toy.
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 