Early in the morning… Mom was the first to get up and tear off a page from the calendar. The new one had a unique date on it: December 24. She didn’t throw away the card because there was always a valuable recipe or some culinary advice on the other side. We, the children, took advantage of the free time and got up later. Mom was chasing us out of the kitchen because she had just washed the floor for the holidays.
In the bathroom, a carp had its own spa for several days, so we didn’t really know what to do with ourselves. Our father helped us and involved us in decorating the Christmas tree. It was artificial, so bare and modest, with foldable branches and a long, curved top that was clearly hindered by the ceiling. However, the chains (rings covered with glue, prepared earlier at school) made it beautiful. We took out baubles and hung them up. One of them always broke. There were a lot of them hung at the front of the Christmas tree, but definitely fewer at the back, because “you can’t see it there”. We also hung sweets (so-called glasses or candy canes) on the tree. Mom counted them and really didn’t like it when we left empty wrappers on the branches. We had we had our own little trick for this: after eating the candy, we put cotton wool in it, of which there was a lot on the Christmas tree – it was an imitation of snow from those years, which decorated all Christmas trees and shop windows.
That orangeade taste. From the diary of 1978 Bookend Publishing House//press materials
“Only when you eat everything will Santa come”
Behind the glass of a “Copernicus” wall unit, there was an exhibition of beautiful Christmas cards based on crystals, and in the room there was a newspaper on a bench. It was fresh, fragrant and extremely thick, this time its title was decorated with the color green. It also had an extensive TV program, a calendar for the New Year, an insert and the obligatory crossword. I had the impression that even the newspaper smelled of Christmas. When everything was ready, mom took the cakes (we also participated in their preparation by licking the bowls) and we went to grandma and grandpa’s. In the evening, when the first star appeared in the sky, we sat down to dinner. I didn’t like sharing the Christmas wafer, kissing my bearded uncles and hearing the same wishes every year: “May you be good and get good grades.”
The table was wonderful and filled with tons of delicacies, which I did not appreciate at the time and I considered eating them to be a chore. “Only when you eat everything will Santa Claus come,” we heard. Thus, we were finally released from the previously repeated: “Don’t take it, it’s for Christmas!”
Kevin wasn’t home alone
Grandma had a beautiful Christmas tree, colorful chocolate candies and icicles caught the eye. The gifts given by Santa Claus (at school he wore a plastic mask, but here he was always wearing clothes from someone in the household) were the most beautiful I have ever received in my life. Perhaps it was because we didn’t get many of them and often. Because only for holidays and birthdays. Among them was a dreamlike Barbie doll knock-off, with a handful of hair on the top of her head.
I also received other gifts for Christmas: a notebook, a Hero fountain pen, markers and Smurf stickers. I put them in a row on my shelf and counted them every day and looked at them before falling asleep. Santa Claus brought perfumes for mom, perhaps, or crystal tights, and for dad, socks or razor blades. I also collected some money to deposit it into the SKO booklet right after the New Year. However, what I enjoyed most was oranges, the smell of which I still associate with those holidays, walnuts and stuffed chocolate.
There was midnight mass. Getting there on foot was a magical journey through snowdrifts. However, the smell of alcohol in the church put me to sleep. Television was also with us during the holidays. Mr. Loska and Wander and Mr. Suzin, sitting proudly next to the decoration or Christmas tree, invited everyone to watch movies. There was no Kevin at Home Alone, but there was Mr. Kleks’ Academy.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
