Christmas 1995 was unique in that it included the only Christmas get-together that we ever had at our Woodman Park Apartments. We were still pretty much a ‘Christmas Eve’ family, opening our gifts together on Christmas Eve rather than Christmas morning. Since Mom and Dad had been divorced since 1989 and Mom had been out of the Winterset house since 1994, we had had (and would continue to have for the next few years) and mixed bag in how we celebrated the holiday. But it was this Christmas Eve that started the trend of holding Christmas Eve at my place.
We had typically always spent Christmas Eve with my Dad’s side of the family. This year was also unique in that we spent his family Christmas with Bill and Dottie on Saturday, December 23 at their new house in Eaton. I only visited this house a couple of times that I recall and I’m fairly certain that this was the first. They had moved here in July of ‘95. We didn’t eat a full meal here but had plenty of great hors d’oeuvres. Lora, Todd, and Ben were here, but I’m not positive about Rob - who I think was living in Key West at the time.
The one distinct memory of this night was that Lora gave Mom a country CD and asked her if she had a CD player. Mom responded that she didn’t have one yet, but “only had an 8-track” - meaning a cassette deck of course. This provided endless amusement for Denise and me.
I worked all day at the Beavercreek Kroger in the front office on the Sunday that was Christmas Eve. Although I’d rather have been off that day, I honestly rather enjoyed the frantic holiday business and the comraderie of sharing the holiday with other employees. That night Lisa and I hosted our first Christmas Eve. It was probably the smallest of our gatherings, with only Mom, Bob, Denise, and Ashleigh present for the meal and gift opening.
The gifts nearly outweigh the tree
Lisa lays out the cheese and crackers while little Ashleigh sizes up the gifts
Denise, Ash, Lisa, and I wait for the word to start ripping into the gifts
Stymie the new kitten ran rampant throughout the proceedings. I can’t really recall any specific gifts that I received that year, but I do know that I really loved shopping for Ashleigh. It always brought back lots of memories to shop for her at this age and purchase some of the toys and games that Denise and I had as children. I also remember that Lisa had tried to work with Bob Satterfield to secure me an autograph of Alfred Hitchcock, but it never happened (in fact, it still has never happened!) It’s funny that I would remember a gift that I didn’t get more so than the gifts that I did get.
Tearing open the gifts. Not sure if the games were from Lisa to me or visa versa - or a combination of both. This is the first year for the ’stockings-with-names’ on the wall. Stymie and Lisa’s are long gone, but Ashleigh’s and mine are still used annually.
Lisa assists Ashleigh with her Operation
Some of the great gifts I enjoyed buying for Ashleigh: Sorry!, “It’s a very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie,” a magic trick, Easy Bake Oven, and jewelry maker
Stymie’s obsession with boxes can be traced back to this very night
Case in point - Stymie invades Bob’s gift box
Christmas morning was spent at Lisa’s parents’ house. We got up and drove to Sidney early in the morning in order to be there for the gift opening. I’m certain that we attended the Holy Angels Catholic mass that morning, although I think I was surprised that they had a full church service on a Monday. This was the second of five Christmas mornings that I spent with Lisa’s family and I always enjoyed them. I always got a kick out of her dad Jerry and how he picked on his Mom.
After we had lunch with her family, we headed back to Dayton and picked up Ashleigh from Christi’s house (where she was once again living with her Mom on Edith Marie Drive in Beavercreek). From there we headed to our Murphy Christmas celebration at Darlene and Bob’s house. I’m not sure if Briana went along with us, but I suspect not. She can’t be seen in any of the photos, but then again, neither can I.
Jan, Ed, Bev, Darlene, Debby, and Diana ’round the table at the Robinsons
Lisa, Ashleigh, Denise, Bryan, Chris, Brittney, and Bob play a card game
Mom and Bob
Ashleigh and Brittney in their innocent years
Bryan and Bob (and a stray shoe)
Grandma, Grandpa, Lori, Debby, Cathy, Jim, and Tom dig into the gifts while Nikki and Karen look on
A typical Grandma Murphy gift. Jacob removes a wedgie.
1995 will conclude in the next posting…
Leave a Reply