In thinking back amongst the presents I've gotten over the past 27 Christmas Days, I thought I would bring to you the top 10 presents I've ever received. These don't necessarily mean my favorite gifts I've ever gotten, but the most memorable ones.
10. Bow and Arrow with Rubber Sticky Things: When I was around 12 years old, I asked for one of these. Of course I meant a bow and arrow with suction cup tips, but I didn't know what they were called, so I asked for a bow and arrow with rubber sticky things.
9. A box full of colored briefs: When I was about 10, in front of everyone at the Widick Family Christmas at my grandparents house, i got real excited when I had the biggest package there. When I opened the box, it was full of packages of colored underwear. Wow, in front of my sister and brother and cousins and aunts and uncles.
8. Back to the Future Soundtrack: Around 1985/1986, after the movie had come out, Santa brought me that soundtrack and put it in my stocking. I bet I listend to that tape about 500 times before it finally just broke. Full of great music from Huey Lewis and the News, and on the flip side several oldies like Johnny B. Goode.
7. David Palmer Jersey: My good friend Jason and I always swapped gifts on Christmas. One year he got me a jersey for the Deuce, David Palmer, all purpose guy for the Crimson Tide. Why was this one so memorable? Jason brought it to me, wrapped up in none other than a pillowcase off his bed.
6. A terribly great trip to Florida: Back in 1992ish, my brother got married on December 22nd in Central Florida. We drove down instead of flying, our minivan broke down twice on the way down, and we ended up renting a car from a place called "Rent-A-Wreck". The tuxedo fitting guy was not so straight if you catch my drift, and it was the first time I heard my dad say the word gay.
5. Nothing at all: Last year, my wife and I were in Memphis for Christmas Day. We had spent the day before at my parent's house, and weren't going to her parents house till much later because we had spent Thanksgiving at Disneyworld with them. We got stuck in traffic on the way back to Memphis on the 24th, got home 7 hours after we left (it should have taken us 4). We woke up, went to church, no one invited us over for lunch, and we spent Christmas day taking down the decorations because we were so depressed. Fortunately, later that night, our friends Michael and Catherine came back in to town and we went to eat mexican food.
4. My Granddaddy Smith from around 1990 till he passed: My mom's parents would always spend Christmas Eve night with us, and wake up with us to enjoy our presents Christmas morning. As my Grandfather got older, he wasn't able to walk very well at all. He shuffled his feet around, and took forever to get anywhere. My parents wouldn't allow us down the stairs until all the adults were in there (so they could see our faces when we turned around the stairs). Eventually, it got to the point where he was taking so long to get ready, we would fall asleep on the stairs waiting for him. One Christmas Eve night, my grandmother yelled at him to stop shuffling his feet, cause he was waking up the whole house. He yelled back at her, for the first I could ever remember, saying "Your're waking up the whole house by not shutting up!"
3. The year we finally won Trival Pursuit: Every Christmas, my entire family would play Trivial Pursuit at my grandmother's house on Christmas day. The kids always got grouped into a team. We never stood a chance, until one year, when I was a junior or senior, we finally beat the adults in Trivia.
2. No family: When I was assistant coach in Houston at Westbury Christian School, I was able to fly in on December 24th, and I had to fly back out Christmas morning because we were playing in a tournament in Midland, TX. I was alone, all by myself the night of Christmas, and had to go to a basketball tournament the next morning. That was the main reason I did not pursue coaching the next year.
1. A wife! I proposed to my wife on Christmas Day, 2002. She had come up to Lebanon to have Christmas with my family. We were slated to be in Hartselle, AL with her family that night. Around 4:30 or 5:00, my family still is opening gifts and lollygagging around. I'm rushing Kristen so we can get to her house, so we can have Christmas with her family, and then have Christmas with each other. At around 11:50 on Christmas Day, I finally got to get on one knee and propose to her. She said yes, and the rest is history. No doubt, the best present I ever received.
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2 comments:
Ahh, good memories. I remember when you guys went to Florida for Christmas that year. I was bummed because I had the whole Christmas break free and you weren't around so we could do stuff.
The gift wrapped in a pillow case is a classic. I still tell that story to people.
But how could anything compare with #1? I forgot it was Christmas when you proposed. That's awesome.
I remember you just handed it over to me and said "Merry Christmas". I really was rather perplexed.
The Christmas proposal was indeed awesome. It almost didn't happen because Kristen's mom yelled up at us while we were opening up presents, and Kristen had to go downstairs to explain that she didn't know what was about to happen but that she knew it was really important and for her to leave us alone!
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