A Christmas Memory

I am doing absolutely nothing for Christmas this year.

I’m not decorating the house, I’m not doing any special baking, and I’m not even putting a wreath on my front door. I stopped mailing Christmas cards several years ago. All I have done is listen to some of my Christmas CDs.

But as I was walking outside today, something brought to mind things that my now ex-husband and I used to do at Christmas time many years ago in northern California. I worked for a federal agency that was located on a naval air station. The gates were guarded by sailors, usually very young sailors. So every Christmas Eve, we would put together two plates of goodies and deliver them to the gate guards. Each plate would include such things as cookies, both homemade and store-bought, homemade fudge, and fruit cake.

The guards were always so shocked and surprised to be handed two plates of goodies on Christmas Eve. I would guess that many of these young people were experiencing their first Christmas away from home.

Of course, such a random act of kindness aren’t possible anymore. I’m sure there is a prohibition against accepting homemade goodies due to the threat of poisoning or other nefarious acts by hate-filled or otherwise sick people.

We carried out this tradition for several years, complete with our dogs in the backseat of the car. It was a quick but rewarding action on Christmas Eve.

I miss the simplicity and freedom to do these things that we had back in the 1980s and 1990s. Today’s memory brought back warm feelings in a very dismal and difficult year.