What Did You Say? Christmas is Cancelled!!!!!
By Ann LeFlore
@poehere (15123)
French Polynesia
December 22, 2015 12:47pm CST
No how can this be? This has never happened in the history of the world and nobody in their right mind cancels Christmas. Well my parents did. I remember this like it was yesterday but the only problem I was only 5 years old when my parents cancelled Christmas for my older brother, younger sister and myself.
When I was growing up in our home my Mom loved Christmas and always made sure to start early each year. But this year we saw nothing. Christmas was getting closer and we still didn’t even have a tree. Each night my dad arrived at home the three of us would beg him to go and get a tree.
Three days before Christmas my dad informed us he received a cancellation notice from Santa. Santa was sick and he just couldn’t make Christmas this year. He sent all of us an apology and told us he would make it up next year.
You never saw a sadder bunch of children in your life. My dad said he would make it up to us and take us to the snow for Christmas. OK we were fine with this, but still how can you cancel Christmas. We had to all go to bed early this night because my parents needed to pack the car and we were leaving really early in the morning.
We were woken up early and put in the car and told to go back to sleep. It seemed like we drove for days. Finally we were starting to go higher and higher up in the mountains and we saw snow everywhere. We were so excited and soon forgot that Christmas was cancelled.
My dad pulled up in front of a beautiful cabin deep in the woods and told us we had arrived. Nobody wanted to go in the cabin and all we wanted to do was play in the snow. My parents told us we had to go inside because we needed to change.
To our surprise Christmas wasn’t cancelled. We went inside the cabin and saw a fireplace lit, our stocking were hung on the fireplace and the biggest tree you ever saw was in the corner of the living room. Around the tree were all sorts of presents. My parents told us that we were spending Christmas here because this was our special present from them. They wanted to give us our first and only white Christmas.
This was the best Christmas I ever had in my life. When we woke on Christmas morning it was snowing outside, Santa had come in the middle of the night, and my mom was in the kitchen making hot chocolate and cinnamon rolls for us.
When you were growing up what was your most memorable Christmas you can recall?
Image - pixabay.com creative commons free image
13 people like this
15 responses
@owlwings (43900)
• Cambridge, England
22 Dec 15
Absolutely marvellous! Full marks and ten gold stars to your Dad!
I can't remember any particular Christmas as being as special as yours. I have probably mixed up several Christmases in my memory to come up with one 'ideal' Christmas (which I have written up and, eventually, my grandchildren will get a copy). We certainly did have some amazing Christmases and, for one of them, the dinner was set out on the upstairs landing instead of in the dining room (it was a large landing with all of the bedroom doors opening off it). It's likely that the ones I remember best were the ones after I was about five or six and wartime rationing had ended. I guess that my mother and father pulled out all the stops to make Christmas as good again as the ones they remembered from before the war.
3 people like this
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
22 Dec 15
I guess that was why my parents did what they did. My mom was born during the depression and she remembered not getting what she wanted for Christmas. One year she wanted a basket ball and this is all she wanted. My grandma gave her some sort of board game and clothes. She said she was so disappointed. She always wanted to make our Christmas special for us and wanted to see or make sure we got at least one or two things we really wanted for Christmas.
Yes my dad was so special in these ways. He was a great dad and I do miss him so much. After he passed away 2 1/2 years ago it has not been the same. I miss him a lot and think back on this Christmas morning that he gave us when I was just 5.
3 people like this
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
22 Dec 15
I am happy you liked my little story. I am also sorry that you have a sad Christmas story to tell. When I was just 22 and my daughter was only 4 1/2 we had to bury my grandpa on Christmas Eve. We returned home and I no more wanted Christmas the next day but I did it for her. She was so excited about the holiday. This has to be the saddest Christmas in my life.
2 people like this
@TiarasOceanView (70020)
• United States
22 Dec 15
This sounds a beautiful place and a very lovely memory friend.
It is special for sure and your parents were dear to do so for you all.
I do not recall any special Christmas in our house, sadly, but it is fine.
2 people like this
@TiarasOceanView (70020)
• United States
22 Dec 15
@poehere Thanks missed u too..a very happy xmas to you and your family friend.
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
22 Dec 15
Hi my friend I have missed you. You must have been busy and not visited in a time. Yes this was special and it was a once in a lifetime adventure. After my two younger brother were born this one never happened again. This is basically the only real great Christmas memory I can think of that lasted a lifetime for me.
1 person likes this
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
22 Dec 15
@TiarasOceanView Thank you so much. I guess you've missed a few things. I left a week or so ago to the Marquesas to work here. I won't be back to Tahiti until after the first of the year,.My partner finished his work over the weekend and arrived here yesterday to be with me. We will spend Christmas and New Years here this year. He will leave to go back right after New Years because he has work to do again. I will stay on to finish up here and when done I will go back home.
Well anyhow hope you have a wonderful holiday and Christmas with your family.
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (236241)
• Walnut Creek, California
23 Dec 15
That sounds like a very special Christmas! I think my favorite was when I was five and we lived in Berkeley. My brother and I got a pretend store with pretend cereal and all sorts of other stuff we could "sell." We were excited. I also remember listening intently for the sound of reindeer hooves but (apparently) falling asleep before Santa came.
2 people like this
@RichardMeister (5328)
• Otis Orchards, Washington
22 Dec 15
One year I was told I would get a "special" gift. My brother kept telling me how much I was going to like my special gift. We opened our presents on Christmas eve since we had to milk cows early in the morning. After milking the cows for the evening and eating supper we all gathered around the Christmas tree. Our foster mother handed out the presents which were clothes that we got every year. Then came the gifts like radios and so forth. I sat quietly as they handed out these gift. All the gifts were gone and I had no gifts except the clothes. I sat there and watched everyone else playing with their gifts. I thought if my special gift was no special gift at all, then that was very cruel. Then my brother looked at me and asked our foster mother, "Where is my brother's special gift?" My foster mother looked at me then said, "Oh, I forgot all about it. It was too big to wrap." She went into her bedroom and came out with a huge sleeping bag. I was excited because, besides going camping, we also slept outside during the summer. My old sleeping bag was shot. Now I could sleep outside in comfort. It was a special gift.
2 people like this
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
22 Dec 15
What a heart warming story. I do believe this is a special gift and a lot better than clothes or some toys. Now you have a brand new sleeping bag and it was perfect for you. I think it is great this one happened and it was a Christmas that you remembered for a long time to come.
1 person likes this
@celticeagle (187302)
• Boise, Idaho
23 Dec 15
Sounds like an interesting way to surprised the kids Hope you have a joyous time where you are. All my early Christmases were good ones.
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
23 Dec 15
Thank you so much. We have gotten all the food and now we wait till Thursday afternoon to start cooking some of it. The mommy we are staying with is busy making all kinds of stuff now. A lot of the food she is cooking I haven't tried before. This should be very interesting this year for Christmas. Looking forward to spending it here.
Yes my parents were sort of this way when there was only the three of us. Later on came my two younger brothers and then it was so much harder to do things like this with 5 of us.
1 person likes this
@celticeagle (187302)
• Boise, Idaho
23 Dec 15
@poehere ...Enjoy you new food trials and happy holidays.
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
23 Dec 15
@celticeagle Thank you so much and please do the same. I think about your family and wish you the very best this holiday season.
1 person likes this
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
22 Dec 15
I think so too. But I do remember how disappointed we were when my dad told us Christmas was cancelled. That was sock and all of us were do disappointed. But when we did arrive in the mountain to the cabin we all forget about Christmas being cancelled and thought this was just fine with us.
@AbbyGreenhill (45490)
• United States
22 Dec 15
This sounds like a Hallmark or Lifetime Christmas movie. I think being taken to a snow covered area would make me sad.
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
22 Dec 15
Really. I know when I was small and I would see people on TV talk about having a white Christmas and see a fire lit and snow through the window I would dream of this. I never had another white Christmas in my life. This was my one and only white Christmas. I was only 5 so I thought it was wonderful to play in the snow, go sledding, and build a snowman. I had the time of my life there that Christmas. So did my brothers and sister. I remember my dad pulling the sled up to the hill for us. We sould all get on it and sled down. Then we would scream for more. Finally he got tired and went inside. So the three of us would drag it up the hill so we could go down again. It was a lot of fun for us.
2 people like this
@AbbyGreenhill (45490)
• United States
22 Dec 15
@poehere I had a few in my many years, but once out of 'kid-hood' I hated snow.
1 person likes this
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
22 Dec 15
@AbbyGreenhill I think if you lived in the snow and had to deal with it for months on end I could see how this could happen. But to see the snow for the first time was amazing and something else for a small child. It was a great surprise my dad arranged for us this year.
1 person likes this
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
23 Dec 15
Yes I do agree. I never could do this to my daughter tell her Christmas was cancelled. But it would of been fun to surprise her like my parents did for us. This would of been special for us. I did take her one year to a cabin in the woods to see the snow and be there for a few days. She did love it and was so happy.
1 person likes this
@bookbar (1609)
• Sudbury, England
23 Dec 15
Nothing that fabulous,that's for sure...childhood Xmases were no big deal and most eminently forgettable...lucky you and Merry Christmas
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
23 Dec 15
Thank you so much. This was so long ago and is just a memory of the time we had this year for Christmas. It was a special day and since this time there wasn't another surprise like this one again. Oh wait I think there was one more but it wasn't on Christmas. We had to fly from France to LAX and then rent a car to go to San Diego to visit our grandma. When we were there my Mom had a surprise for us for being so good on the plane and car ride. There were 5 of us by then. She took us all to Disneyland. Now that one was another amazing time but my dad was not there this time. He stayed home to work and we were just there for the summer holiday.
1 person likes this
@Rohvannyn (3098)
• United States
23 Dec 15
Wow, what a story! And it sounds like a very memorable time was had by all.
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
23 Dec 15
Yes it was a lot of fun. I saw a lot of Christmas stories and questions so I decided to share a memory of mine from many years ago when I was a small child. I think this was the best Christmas ever because we thought there wasn't going to be one at all.
@JudyEv (376337)
• Rockingham, Australia
23 Dec 15
This certainly sounds like a really magical Christmas! What a lovely surprise from your parents.
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
23 Dec 15
It was a total surprise. My dad just told us he would take us to the snow to make us feel better. We had no idea that they had planned this. I think the looks on all of our faces was priceless and this is what made it even more special for them too.
1 person likes this
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
23 Dec 15
Thank you so much I thought it was wonderful.But at the same time I was only 5. I guess special memories stick with you for years and years to come and never leaves you at all. During the season you think back and remember special things like this.
@LovingMyBabies (85923)
• Valdosta, Georgia
22 Dec 15
That is so amazing! What a wonderful surprise for all of you. =)
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
22 Dec 15
Yes it was. It is special when you parents want to do something out of the ordinary. This was one time they did this for us. I will never forget this Christmas and the fun we had that year playing in the snow for 5 days. Later on when I was a lot older my dad told me that his friend owned the cabin and helped him to do all of this. They had to get stuff up there and his friend helped him. We didn't know my dad was preparing the cabin for us and thought he was at work. It was a wonderful time and we had the most amazing Christmas this year. I wouldn't of cared if Christmas was really cancelled or not. We were more interested in playing in the snow than opening our gift that year. It was so much fun.
