What gift can you give to parents that have everything they want? Time with family is the correct answer to the question. They would love to spend the Christmas Holidays with their children and grandchildren. I would love to spend the Christmas Holidays with all our children, spouses and grandchildren. Also the rest of my family, my sister and her family, my brother and his family. We always have such a joyous time. My wife and I haven't had the chance yet to spend a joyous Christmas with our son and daughter-in-law and his beautiful family. My family has been blessed in having spent so many Christmas's around the world growing up. One joyous Christmas we were all in Texas a few years ago...
The entire family was enjoying each others company and the festive good times were full of laughter and story telling. My mother and father were sitting on the couch and other family members were all sitting or lounging around the spacious living room sipping on beverages and eating the wonderful snack food.
The conversation came around to automobiles. This subject is one that our dad is an expert and my brother is a close second. We all were talking about the best vehicles we've ever owned. Then it happened. Dad started talking about the Mercedes he didn't buy back in the sixty's, and the Rambler Station wagon that he bought new. This automobile reminded me of the Groswald's National Vacation ride. It became our tour boat a la resistance. We took that car across the country at least two times on round trips. Oh, the pictures we would pose for and guess what was in the background almost every time? Yes the nice white station wagon. You all know the shots, here you see the lovely North Dakota countryside, behind the family and the car. The highways back then weren't Interstates, they were two lane roads with large trucks on them, but not semi's. If you were going faster than the cars you came up on you had to pass on the left. No shoulders on the roads either. Did I mention the air-conditioning, windows down, and no listening to the radio in the back as the wind blowing through your hair almost whipped your ears off. Sticking your hands out or putting your head to close put you in danger of being a windshield for the bugs that missed it the first time. No seat belts, really, you could stand on the floor in the back seat and look over the dash at impending doom at seventy miles an hour, especially when passing on two lanes. It was a wonderful time to be a kid.
Our family made weekend picnic trips. They were some of the best times in my young life. We loved seeing the countryside and places of interest, and drinking a cold bottle of soda while the gas was filled up by an attendant. Windshield wiped clean, the air and oil checked these were normal things. My dad could ask directions, let me tell you. It only took a few times from mom to remind him that we were lost.
When my father came back from a remote assignment in Alaska, we were told we were moving to Alaska. Alaska, the land of the midnight sun. The decision was to drive the ALCAN Highway, but then it was getting close to winter time and it would be treacherous. The family would board the ferry in Seattle and take it to Prince Rupert, British Colombia, then drive the rest of the way to Anchorage. This was the winter of 1965. The snow was already falling heavily way up north, after we departed Seattle. The ferry had all the vehicles below and it was such a fun cruise for us as kids. I don't really think that my dad was sick that much , but most of my memories of that trip I don't remember seeing his smiling face a lot, except for a dinner or two. No sweat dad. Mom was a trooper, though.
We finally got out at Prince Rupert and as my memory serves me, we fueled up and told the authorities that we were going to drive on to Haines Junction. It was already dark for most of the day with only a few hours of daylight. In those days you had to let them know when you left as it was a long drive over snow covered roads that had shoulder poles over six feet tall as markers so you could stay on the road. My parents were in the front bench seat, my sister on the bench seat in the back, my brother in a niche in the very back with the luggage. I was on the floor board over the hump. We had beds made up so we could sleep. I remember waking up at some time, listening to my parents talk to each other and my brother and sister sleeping away. My right hand was under the front seat near the railing when my fingers touched a cold metal screw driver. I was just trying to relax and enter that calm sleep state again when I took the screw driver and lightly starting tapping the seat rail. Now imagine this, here you are driving your family a long distance in a vehicle that has served you well, the miles on it are over a hundred thousand, the engine is aluminum. Yes, back then there was concern over aluminum blocks. All of a sudden you hear a tap, tap, tap... It is rhythmic, you've trusted this car. I hear my dad ask my mom to see if any of us kids are awake. I keep up my sleep action as survival mode has kicked into my psyche. Mom moves over me and looks, she can't see my hand under the seat and she sits back down. I continue to tap, tap, tap. As Dad speeds up I tap faster, as he slows down I tap slower.
So here I was sharing this story with the family, everyone laughing and rolling, except one person... Guess who that was, my dad looked like he was thirty years younger and started to get up. He had the "look," on him and I kinda laughed. He finally realized that his whooping my butt wouldn't do any good now and he smiled.
Had my dad caught me doing that years ago, my parents would have arrived in Haines Junction with my mom, brother and sister. They would have said they didn't know what happened to ten year old Chris and that it was awfully cold and snowy on the road. Sometime in the spring they might have found my body with a look of fear on my face and a screw driver in my hands. Just kidding, but that's what vision I had as mom leaned over the seat to check on us. I had to continue tapping until I fell asleep and the screw driver had to be removed as evidence later.
The Joy of spending Christmas with Family enables us to share wonderful heartfelt stories with our families and to see the Joy of the Holidays on our family members faces. I will cherish the look on my folks face that year in Texas. The look was one of they really could have gotten away with it.
Merry Christmas Mom & Dad
Love you...
photo courtesy of flikr
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