By Mary Torgerson – Grande Prairie, Alta.
My memories of years gone by
Of Christmas Eve so glad
Are all very special ones
Not all were good, some very sad!
I remember coming home from church
On a quiet, starlit night
Cuddled in blankets in the big sleigh
While stars up above shone so bright.
In our hands were clutched the goodies
Nut, candies, and such
In a brown paper bag, maybe an orange
We felt blest tho’ we didn’t have much.
Our verses and songs we had recited so well
The songs about Jesus’ birth
Home we went filled with great hope
Of gifts around the old hearth.
We ran in the house, dad lit the fire
Around the stove, mom our blankets did hold
As we got into our nighties and jumped into bed
She covered us as stories she told.
She told us of Jesus born in a barn
And how cold He must have been
We felt very blest to have that warm quilt
A mother’s heart, the warmest we’d ever seen.
Then early the next morning I crept out of bed
To see what I’d gotten under the tree
When I was four, a doll I did find
And it was especially for me.
She felt so cold so to the heater I went
And crouched down on the warm floor
As I gazed in the damper’s red hot flame
Oh, to be a child once more!
I was four years old that year in 1943
That doll has long seen its day
Many times have I recalled the Christmas
That wonderful, most holy day.
There is another Christmas we all must recall
About the year nineteen-hundred, fifty two
When that then “little brother” of ours nearly died
God saved him, he’s here with us too!
So thank you, God, for making him well
And thank you, we are still all here
May we have many more of these memories
And many more wonderful years!
