The Ghost of Christmas Past - Dori

My memories of Christmas take me instantly back to my childhood.  A time when all seemed perfect on Christmas morning. We didn't have much, but my parents always made sure that I had enough. They made sure of that for all of their children. That's what parents do. Those memories of Christmas during my childhood will stay with me forever.

As an adult, I have memories of good Christmases also, most especially these past few years since I've lived here in England away from what I knew before. I've had to make new traditions in my own home and it's been a joy to create new memories.

The Ghost of Christmas Past - Val

Take a moment to think back to your childhood.  What did Christmas mean to you?  What do you remember most about it?

For me it was magical; a time ripe with excitement from the build up to Christmas at school with carol services, card making for mums and dads and the usual primary school Christmas play where we’d all parade across the stage wearing tea towels in one form or another.  Great times!  I remember the sheer joy of putting up the Christmas decorations at home and dressing the tree with streams of tinsel and glitzy baubles of all shapes and sizes.  There were always foil-wrapped chocolates to hang on random branches, and when you finally got to pull one off to eat, tiny strips of tree foliage would come with it (It’s funny what you remember!).  Gradually, over the years, the tree got balder and balder.  Then there were the paper chains Mum or Dad would buy – thin strips of assorted brightly coloured paper with glued ends you’d lick and stick, one chain through the other, into great multi-coloured snakes we could suspend from the ceiling.  I absolutely loved them, despite the gluey taste, and living in London, we’d always take a walk along Oxford Street to look at the Christmas window displays in the big department stores, which to me were fabulous.  All of this, and then the anticipation of what Father Christmas might bring...