THE LITTLE RED BOOK

After dinner on Christmas Eve, I shot-up from the table and scuttled to the garage.

I knew EXACTLY where I had seen it.

The little, red, spiral-bound book.

During the 2020 quarantine I did a massive garage clean-out.

The 'red book' had been located and set aside for safe keeping.

The front cover reads: Christmas Through The Years.

A gift my mom received in 1984 from her sister.

I would have been 2 years old at the time.

Emerging from the garage I proudly brought the book to the dining table.

For the rest of the evening, my mom and I went through every page.

There was a lot of laughter and some tears too.

Since 1984 this red book documented Christmas.

Each year, the annual Christmas letter was glued to a page.

This newsy letter was sent with a photo card.

Back then, women were writing/typing out 2-page family updates.

Other artifacts were included in the book, my letters to Santa.

The book had a spot to write the:

Weather, Menu and Guests on Christmas Day.

The 'Year In Review' provided a place for world events, earthquakes, trips.

Also, a record of Christmas gifts received and any other holiday memories.

My mom added to this book every-single-year.

From 1984-2003

19 years!

Quite an accomplishment.

I found myself profoundly impacted by the book and its contents.

After making my way through the entire 19 years I thought....

It's time to stop running, Sheila.

See, I've spent a lot of my life running from the past.