Merry
Christmas 2013
Kathryn & I hope this Christmas will
be a special time of year for each of you and your families.
As I think back over the many Christmases
of
my life, many of them are especially memorable. Mostly, memorable because we spent them with you our treasured family and friends.
my life, many of them are especially memorable. Mostly, memorable because we spent them with you our treasured family and friends.
I can remember some details of most of my
early Christmases, there was a windup tractor, a glass washing machine (there is a story about that but I’ll save it
for another time), my tricycle, the tinker toys, etc. But the Christmas of
1942 stands out as one of the most memorable, and I owe much of that to my “teasie”
Uncle Bruce. who never missed an opportunity to make things “interesting” for his
nieces & nephews.
December of 1942 found our family staying with Aunt Hilda and
her nephew, my mother’s brother, Uncle Bruce in Mt. Pleasant
As we left our home in the mountains a
heavy snow storm moved in, effectively cutting of all access to our former home
until spring. My father was reassigned to the Salt Lake office, but from
Thanksgiving to New Years, while my parents were searching for a place to live
in Salt Lake, (not an easy thing to do in
those wartime years) our family
stayed in Mt. Pleasant.
As Christmas approached, Uncle Bruce
repeatedly cautioned me that since we had moved so late in the year, I
shouldn’t be prepared to have Santa miss me at our new address.
On about the 15th of December,
Dad asked me if I wanted to go with him and Uncle Bruce to the Mountains east
of Mt. Pleasant
When I got home, I was anxious to show off
my new vocabulary and got my mouth washed out with soap for my efforts. Dad and Uncle Bruce got scolded but they
didn’t get the soap treatment. I remember of thinking that maybe Mom and Aunt
Hilda had just given up on them.
A few days before Christmas, Uncle Bruce
really started to give me the business, he explained that I had probably waited
too long to let Santa know that we had moved so he could re-arrange his pack to
deliver my presents in Mt. Pleasant, and that my presents would probably be
left in our old snowbound house and worse yet, before we could get there in the
spring to pick them up, skiers or snowshoe hikers would get there and find my
presents. Thinking them abandoned, they would naturally take them home for
their own children, who, unlike the children for whom they were intended, would
appreciate them.
Well that really got my attention. Uncle Bruce promised to do
what he could to “help” me in my desperate situation and he did. Mom and Aunt
Hilda didn’t say much but they did assure me that Santa would find me as he had
found other children through the centuries.
To understand the rest of the story, you
need to understand that, like other families, my mothers family used to have a
cutter, complete with a set of sleigh bells.
In those early years of my life I didn’t know about the cutter
or the sleigh bells, but Uncle Bruce did.
Early on Christmas Eve day, Uncle Bruce
came back home with great news. He had seen Santa and explained my situation.
Santa had agreed that my situation was desperate and that he would try to work
me in to his busy schedule, but that I should remember that he might have to
come by a bit early and that the strict roles could not be changed. Before he
could come I must be in bed and asleep.
In the late afternoon of Christmas Eve,
thing really started to happen. Just before dinner, I suddenly heard the sound
of sleigh bells, but running to the window, I saw nothing. Soon afterward, Uncle
Bruce came into the Kitchen and asked if we had heard the bells. We told him we
had and he warned that I should probably have been in bed and asleep because
Santa may not be able to make another run.
During dinner, Uncle Bruce suddenly
remembered some important chore and needed to be excused for a few minutes.
While he was out we again heard sleigh bells.
After coming back, Uncle Bruce asked if we
had the bells and again warned that I should have been in bed and asleep,
because Santa had already made two tries and may not be able to make another
run for me. Aunt Hilda reassuringly said that I should just leave it to Santa. We
heard sleigh bells again several times that afternoon and each time Uncle Bruce
(after coming back into the house) would warn me that I should already have
been in bed and asleep, because Santa could not just keep trying.
After Dinner, we held a family Christmas Eve Devotional in the
parlor, where the Christmas tree was located and where I was to sleep. I was
just frantic, but Aunt Hilda casually read from the Gospel of St. Luke and set
out a tray of goodies for Santa. We all heard bells once or twice more during
the evening, but soon, excited as I was, I became so sleepy that I just
couldn’t keep my eyes open.
When I awoke on Christmas morning, I found
that Santa had been right there in our parlor where I had slept, eaten the
snack we had left him and just as Uncle Bruce had arranged, built a “Toyland
Town all around our Christmas tree”.
It wasn’t until many years later that I
realized that every time the sleigh bells rang, Uncle Bruce was away on some
important errand.
Uncle Bruce went to great of effort to make
sure that we had a great Christmas that year and I love him for it. But, I
think he had just as much fun as I did.
I don’t remember what Santa brought that
Christmas, but I do remember that he made the effort to find me. Over the years
I have come to see the symbolism in this and recognize how grateful I am that
the Prince of Peace has made the effort to come to find each of us, regardless
of race, religion or status just as Santa found me
With Much Love, We Wish Each of You a Very Merry
Christmas
David & Kathryn Gunderson
[1] The Duchesne Tunnel is part of an irrigation
project. It is located 18 mi east of Kamas , Utah
No comments:
Post a Comment