I Be Tagged----

Kim Hughes tagged me as did Wanda . Since it's Christmas Eve in Michigan, I decided to make all my random facts be about Christmas past. The rules are to tag a bunch of people and post at their blogs that I tagged them. I am setting this up that if you haven't been tagged this month of December, you are it. So if you are reading this and want to participate, please do so. I read over 800 blogs and have no idea who HASN'T been tagged to the current line. I kinda wonder how I got this far and haven't been tagged since last spring! And I am still waiting on the answers back from that one! Make sure you link back to me if you participate and have your selections do the same.

1. I lived with my grandparents next door my entire life and often if it weren't for them, we as kids would have had no Christmas gifts at all. My dad was laid off for up to three years once ( truck driver) and it was often bleak.
2. Our house caught fire one Christmas Eve. The local store owner's son (my gramma lived above the shop next door to us), who was about 12, was what was then called an incorrigible. He was upset and he had a book of matches. He saw our basement window was open and he threw lit ones in and it ignited the clothing my mom has separated on the floor before washing. I think this is part of my phobia about dark basements to this day. We moved to the house in front of this one in January and I spent a week with my sister and brother at Gramma's-a treat for me! (but I lost my favorite Jammie's in the fire). I think this boy was just lonely as his mom was gone.
3. One year, I wrapped a small token in a box for my dad and re-wrapped it at least a dozen times to make it look bigger and bigger. I got yelled at for wasting wrapping paper. My grampa thought it was funny and folded the papers for later use but it still made me sad. I only had a small amount of money to myself and we bought all our stuff at the dime store.
4. I did the same thing for my brother one year. I wrapped a package of batteries in a box all nice and elegant. When he unwrapped it, he pitched a fit. Like why did I give him such a crappy gift. I then sent him to the garage to get a box for the scraps of paper and he found his real gift-a boom box. Guess I wasn't so bad at gifting after all.
5. The first year we were in our own house, my hubby dressed up as Santa in 1973. My niece was almost two then and she just gaped and giggled. Now he has a real Santa belly. All those cookies will do it to you. I didn't make any this year-YET!
6. One year my mom gave me a lottery ticket for my birthday a week before Christmas and I won 50 bucks! I went to Joann's and bought fabric and patterns and made an entire school wardrobe for my niece. I think I was able to make her 5 jumpers, 4 pants, a winter coat, leggings, underwear and a bunch of blouses. I sewed it all by hand. Her parents were in a divorce and I wanted to give her something special.
7. I don't participate in Christmas in the traditional sense anymore. 10 years ago a lot of things happened. My mom was sick, her house caught fire, I hurt my back trying to clean it up (with only my daughter for help), then I got extremely sick. I tried to keep up and do it all and I couldn't. So I stopped all the dinner stuff, the shopping stuff and the greed in my life. I give gifts when I want to not because I have to. I will always hurt over the things that were said to me that Christmas. I also found that giving anonymously is a better way because no one knows who I am or why I did it. It just works for me that way-that maybe Christmas isn't one day but all year. Just few seem to know that much these days.

As I look forward to a new year and warmer days, I hope the joy you see on your childrens' faces will always be there. Just don't take it for granted.

Peace.