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Holiday Competition: Win a tablet!

  • By Esther
December 14, 2015
Holiday Competition: Win a tablet!

What was the most significant holiday gift you have ever received? Are there special family memories associated with it?

This is a guest post by Karen, MyHeritage’s country manager for Germany.

Everyone knows that feeling of really wanting something with all your heart. For some, it may have been a first bike, a soccer ball, or maybe a special book. The gift that I dreamed of and wished for was a puppy. I remember the many months trying to convince my parents that I would be responsible and take care of a dog with love and affection. My parents kept trying to dissuade me of the idea. They told me the dog would mess up the house, eat our shoes, scratch the door, shed hair everywhere and that we would never again be able to take a vacation.However, I was determined. I begged my parents for a chance; I petted every dog that I met on the street, and spoke to their owners. My efforts seemed to be in vain, as my parents kept saying no, with no resolve.

One December 25 – a cold, white Christmas morning – it all changed. I was the last one to wake up that morning and I ran downstairs to look at our Christmas tree. Almost immediately I saw a box with several small holes in the top. It was the only gift under the tree. My parents were sitting on the couch waiting for me, with my siblings at their side. They all looked at me with excitement and suspense. I was so excited and my heart beat so loudly that I was sure that everyone heard it!

I went to the box, and took off the lid. There she was, a beautiful German shepherd puppy watching me with the two sweetest eyes I had ever seen. I took her carefully out of the box and started crying with joy. My parents and my brothers hugged me and didn’t know if they should cry or laugh. It was the most incredible gift I have ever received in my entire life. A gift that made the family feel whole and complete. Everyone felt the joy and contentment of that moment.

With the arrival of our puppy, Adia, we began taking many walks in the woods close to our home. Every day after school, my brothers, my mother and I played with Adia in the garden. She was always in the middle of the circle, trying to get a ball we threw to each other. That was our favorite game. My brothers and I gave her so many new hairstyles. My father heard countless stories about my time in school – and my life, in general – as we took her out.

Adia was always around at mealtime, looking for a piece of meat.  She was always ready for a ride or fun activity. My mother used to say that it was like Adia was her youngest daughter. And it’s true, she was indeed part of the family.

In the Christmases that came after, Adia was always there, under the tree, reminding us of the joy she brought to our family that cold morning.

This holiday season, we’re looking for you to share your most memorable present with us. One  lucky winner will receive a tablet to help research your family history, and to share and preserve photos with your loved ones.

To enter, send an email to stories@myheritage.com and tell us about the most meaningful holiday gift you have ever received. Tell us the story behind the gift, and make sure to include photos!

We’ll choose our favorite to win and we will also share some of the other stories in our blog.

Looking forward to reading your memories!

Good luck!

More from Holidays

Comments

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  • Sheryl Whisenhunt

    December 14, 2015

    My most significant and meaningful gifts I ever received has to be the ones I received from my children. During a very bad situation, my children’s location had become unknown to me for a very long time. After years of separation, and damage done through erroneous information given to them, I was able to be reunited with them, but much damage had been done. That is why the first gifts I received from them has such special meaning to me. From my son, I had received a breadmaker and my daughter a pair of pink, warm slippers. They may not seem like much, but the pleasure I received is priceless and will always be in my heart.

  • Trudie Davis-Long

    December 14, 2015

    I don’t know who they called. I know why they called, and this was about 1962.
    I was running around feeling fine was probably about 8 years old, I felt hot but I didn’t feel bad. At that time of my life life we lived at the Indiana Arsenal at River Ridge close to Charlestown, IN. My father worked at the Census Bureau, Jeffersonville, IN.
    My mother was frantic; I had to get into bed even though I felt like playing and running around the house.
    This strange man who I’d never seen before came into my bedroom put his hand on his head, looked in my throat. He then left the room and went to talk to my mother.
    He came back and gave me a shot.
    I later learned that he had diagnosed me with Scarlet Fever, and that if he had not been there to treat me I may have come down with rheumatic fever.
    Even though I didn’t know it at the time, this event probably change my life forever. Merry Christmas.

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    Esther

    December 14, 2015

    Hi Sheryl and Trudie,

    Thank you for your entries! We will announce the winners next week, so stay tuned.

    Best Regards,

    MyHeritage Team

  • Kevin Huigens

    December 15, 2015

    In 1968 there was a small present under the tree from my dad for my brothers and me. I was 11, my brother was 9 and our baby brother was not quite 1. We shook it and rattled it, but could not figure out from the shape and the sound what it might be. When we opened it Christmas Eve, we found a cleaned out margarine tub. Inside was a note from our father letting us know that as of the beginning of Dec. he had stoppd smoking. He was 41 and worried about dying before his new son was grown. He died two years ago at the age of 86. Those 45 years of my dad were the best gift ever.

  • Gary D. Blaylock

    December 16, 2015

    Back in 1959 things were very difficult for our family. My father was the only wage earner in the family and the expenses for raising a family including two teenage boys was quite a chore.
    I had just turned 16 and, of course my dream was to have a car of my own. I drove the family’s 1956 Dodge station wagon when necessary, but naturally, it was not a “cool” car to have, back in the 50s.
    I was working part time, after school and on weekends and saving up to buy a car. But, at that rate I expected it would take about ten years before I had enough money.
    My dad asked me, one day, what I wanted for Christmas. I said it would be great if I had a car to drive to work and high school. He replied that it would be impossibe for him to help me out; given the family’s financial situation.
    On Christmas morning, 1959, we began the day as usual; unwraping gifts from each other and wishing for a merry Christmas for all.
    Suddenly, my father rose and told me to follow him to the garage. He opened the door and parcked in the garage was an old, but beautiful 1952 Ford. I turned to my father and asked what it was for? He said, simply, “it’s for you son!”. I bagan to sob, knowing that it was likely a great sacrafice for him and mom to buy me the car.
    I have never forgotten that Christmas and my wife and I have endeavored to make every one of our children’s Christmas as much of a memorable time as that one was for me.

  • Rosalie Panasewycz

    December 16, 2015

    My most memorable Christmas Gift was a gorgeous Pedigree Dolly and Pusher. We had to beat the train through the Adelaide Hills or else Santa would get to my Aunts before us.
    I was six or seven and we managed to get to my aunts home before Santa Just thinking about it makes me smile. Such happy memories of my family

  • Martin Bennett

    December 16, 2015

    I wonder how we enter this.

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    Esther

    December 16, 2015

    Hi Martin,

    To enter the competition, either write your story here, as a comment, or write to us at .

    Best,
    MyHeritage Team

  • Bill Nunes

    December 16, 2015

    I was born on the island of Pico, Azores in the early sixties. Life on a small farm was very basic. My parents could not afford to get us presents and toys were not abundantly available, we were happy just to play with a ball blown up from the intestines of a cow or Pig. One day at church I saw our neighbour’s kid with a wooden spinning top and knew I had to have one. I think I asked everyone in my family if I could have one for about eight months, then finally at Christmas dinner my uncle Manuel pulled one out of his pocket that he had made just for me. I was over the moon with joy!!! It may sound trivial to others today or not a big deal, but for me it was one of the nicest things someone has ever done for me. Thank you so much uncle Manny for making me the best toy ever! This story and many more like it are part of the reason I love “MyHeritage”, and got involved with genealogy.

  • Hazel smith

    December 19, 2015

    My sister gave me a kidney and saved my life.

  • Yvonne Kennedy

    December 20, 2015

    I was born in a small town in Carbonear, Newfoundland. Life in Newfie was not easy, especially when you come from a family of 12. 7 girls and 5 boys. I remember my dad used to buy a box of apples, that was the only time we had them. life was not easy for us, it wasn’t important what we got as long as we got a stocking. Our gifts would be a pair of mitts or a small doll for girls and a little toy of some sort for the boys. There was no trouble getting us to bed (3 to a bed) because we really wanted them stocking’s. In our stocking, there would be some candy, nuts, orange, apple, and a little toy. We would get out of bed so early in the morning and run to the kitchen because that’s where are stocking’s were hung (all 12 of them). A line was strung across the kitchen and what a sight, we grab them and go back to bed and eat what we could. It isn’t the gifts that are important, it’s the thought that counts and the love that was behind it. My mom and dad have passed on now and I appreciated the fact, that they were able to do just that little thing that made us happy. Every Christmas that memory comes back to me time and time again. At Christmas time, I just glad to be alive. Thank you, mom and dad, for so many memories at Christmas time.

  • Gary B. Kines

    December 20, 2015

    In my early twenties I left Canada and travelled to England where I hoped to work in musical theatre there, singing and dancing. I was fortunate to land a place in a touring company the summer of 1976, but when that show closed in the Fall I had to find other work. I auditioned for a winter show in what they call ‘Pantomime’ in the UK, and was offered a position in the chorus, with a few lines to speak, in a production of Jack & the Beanstalk. We performed six nights a week plus a matinee on Saturdays, so it was a demanding schedule, but I loved it because that was what I thought I wanted to do for the rest of my working life. Fate, however, had other plans for me.
    We performed on Christmas Day, and after the show a man came back stage to see me. “I see from the program that you’re from Canada,” he said. “I’d like you to work for me in my travel business.”
    I was surprised, of course, but said I would think about it. He said, “When this show finishes its run, come and see me in London. I think you’ll be excited by what I have in mind.” And with that he gave me his card and left.
    When the show I finished I travelled down from Manchester to London and looked the guy up. After chatting a bit, he told me he wanted to train me and hire me to be one of his tour guides. Apparently his tour company had lots of Canadians taking the trips and he felt I would be a good bet.
    So I went out on a training tour for six weeks around Europe, and started guiding tours almost immediately. I ended up guiding for his company for two years through Europe, Russia and Scandinavia. Whenever I stopped to think about it I could only shake my head and wonder how fortunate I was, to be travelling all over the map and getting paid to do it. Meeting the company’s owner on Christmas Day, 1976, and being offered a plum job that turned out so well, was possibly the most exciting Christmas gift I ever received.

  • Susan Murry Noel

    December 21, 2015

    My most memorable Christmas occurred December Day, 1968. I was a U.S. Navy Nurse serving in Naval Hospital, St. Albans, NY. It was my first time away from home and my first duty station. The patients left in the hospital and I were all feeling sad about missing our families. Some very sweet Red Cross ladies came around to the many wards visiting patients and staff. They gave us each a gift of several dollars in change. I do not remember the amount, but it was enough for me to telephone family from the pay booth. I gave the rest to patients who needed more money to make more calls than I. A gift at Christmas has not meant more to a very young nurse who was caring for wounded soldiers, many younger than she. We made the hours more special by singing carols. Senior nurses were not amused, but we(other nurses and patients) sang anyway. We thought of the meaning behind the carols and that Christmas Day was the best memory of the Vietnam Era for me.

  • Dee Akard Welborn

    December 21, 2015

    In 1961, at age 8, a new pastor and his wife had recently relocated to our church and had the roster of the children attending there. At the Christmas party, the girls received Barbie dolls and the boys received Six-shooters. With the given name, Dee, I received a Six-shooter instead of a Barbie doll. I remember vividly the pastor’s wife apologizing and wanting to exchange my gift. I was so excited to have a cowboy pistol that I refused the exchange…I spent that Christmas holiday pretending I was a cowgirl riding the frontier with Roy Rogers and the Lone Ranger. It still remains a sweet childhood memory.

  • Tommy Roberts

    December 21, 2015

    When the Dodge Viper car came out, my son, just barely old enough to drive, said he wanted one for Christmas. Of course, we could never afford anything like that, but I did wrap up a Dodge wiper (windshield wiper) for his present. The shock on his face when he opened it was amazing. First unbelief as to why a single wiper blade, then astonishment that we would do that to him, and then anger because we had so much fun with it.

    Another year, he wanted a weight lifting set. He just knew when we pushed the heavy present across the floor that what he got was what he wanted. Another surprise when he opened up two concrete blocks.

  • Brenda Bengard

    December 21, 2015

    I can remember when my mom’s side of the family would all go to my Grandmother’s house, I would get to play with my cousins on her piano and act like we knew what we were doing. She had a fake fire place that had a record player, and small bar in it. She was from Germany, came over when she was just 17 along with her younger sister. She had German Opera records, which I did not know until we cleaned her house after she died. Anyway she always had a silver tree and a color shell which would go green, red, & blue. I thought that was the most beautiful tree ever. She would give a bottle of booze to the men, houseboat to the women and have a box wrapped in Christmas paper that had the hard candy, some chocolates, and oranges. I miss those Christmases, mom is gone, dad is gone, grandma too. Happy Holidays!!

  • Flora Eling-Agnew

    December 21, 2015

    None of my children were born on Christmas but, their gifts to me through the years are priceless! Now, I have added the gifts of and from my grandchildren & great-grandchildren! Leaving a written record of their ancestors for them is one of my biggest gift to them.

    Merry Christmas to all!

  • Beverley Johns

    December 21, 2015

    For me the most memorable gift was my first computer 12 years ago. It opened up family research, job opportunities and I went to college and got a degree. Working on the next step up in education, possible at any age. I am 71. Thanks to my son and daughter in law there is no stopping me now.

  • Selma Blackmon

    December 21, 2015

    Growing up as a young girl in the late 1940s, I could request one present. Finally, my choice was between two, but which one? I wanted a Toni Doll and an electric train. My mother questioned how come I wanted a girl present and a boy present. In those days we were gender labeled. I had no idea why, I just wanted to play with them both. Fortunately, they did not make me choose between the two. I did receive both gifts. The doll I played with often combing and styling her hair. The train traveled around the base of the Christmas tree for several years. Since I was very close to my boy cousin, maybe I wanted the train to impress him? He had no interest in my doll. We did play board games and trade comic books. Fond memories, thank you for prodding us.

  • Robert E Neel

    December 21, 2015

    In 1947 I was 6 years old and had asked for a bicycle for Christmas and as I had 3 brothers at the time and times were tough. I was young enough that I didn’t have the concept of money. I only knew that my parents would put an envelope on the Christmas tree with money in it to pay Santa for any toys we received. We were only allowed to ask for one present and our Sears and Roebuck Christmas Catalog was the place we looked for our desired present. That year and the previous year a bicycle was my requested present. Christmas that year was a little strange as I had doubted all the Christmas beliefs and had asked my parents if my doubts were true. They finally said what I had suspected were true and I was allowed to help on Christmas eve. There was no bicycle and I went to bed knowing that the present I wanted most wasn’t coming that year. Upon arising early we were not allowed into the living room until all were up and breakfast was over. Each of my siblings for their present and I was the oldest and last to get one and low and behold from behind the couch out came a Schwinn bicycle. I rode it thru the house from the living room, dining room, kitchen and into the bathroom as our house was a straight line house. That was the only time that was allowed and all afternoon I rode the bicycle around our yard and on the sidewalk. It was the best Christmas present even and 68 years later I still have that bicycle hanging in my garage. It didn’t matter that it was a used bicycle it was my bicycle.

  • Joanne Verrier

    December 22, 2015

    My father never new his family, as his mother had himout of wedlock and family disowned her and she died soon after, he grew up in foster homes and had to look after himself after the age of 13.
    One day I decided it was time to try and find his family before he died without closure. Searching MyHeritage i found some decendants of my father, as close as his mothers brother.
    My father was excited about Meeting him and other members of the family, to the extent he wished they could all get together for a christmas. It would be the best present ever.
    I got to work and organised the get together, it was a wonderful day. A few weeks later his uncle died. My father was so happy he got to spend one christmas with him. If it wasnt for MYHERITAGE this moment in his life would never have been. My father has now past away, but our families still keep in touch. Thank you.

  • Kathy Stellwag

    December 22, 2015

    Just before Christmas of 1979, when I was 14 years old, one of the things that I had wanted at the top of my Christmas List was my very own Princess Phone! A Pink one! Well, come Christmas Morning we ate Breakfast Scrambled Eggs and Pilsbury Cinnamon roll’s. After Breakfast me and my Parent’s gathered around the Christmas Tree and we each opened a Present, when it came around to me Mom set before me a rectangular shaped present. As I unwrapped it, I was so excited to find that it was just what I had wanted! My very own Princess Rotary Phone! But the only difference was as my Mother had pointed out to me. They ran out of the “Pink” Princess Phones and instead they got me a Beige one! Which, I was happy with it any way! The first person I had thought to call that day was my Cousins! I already knew there Phone Number by heart and when I had dialed it, My Cousin Rick answered the Phone. It didn’t matter who it had been but I was sure glad it was him and he was so happy for me! We had a nice short chat as he had things he needed to do and I needed to get ready to go over to my Grandma’s house for Christmas Dinner that afternoon! None of us knew that years down the road. We would lose our Gentle Giant in my Cousin Rick, from Melanoma! Skin Cancer can take people so fast! But so can, other Cancers! Still that is one of my Favorite memories of my first Telephone and getting to talk to the Gentle Giant in my Family, my Cousin Rick!

  • Cheryl Bone

    December 22, 2015

    I had to think for just a moment on my favorite Christmas. After I was married until he died, we always went home to Mt. Vernon IL for Christmas. On a trip home on Labor Day prior to Christmas, Dad asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I am usually not dramatic but I sunk to my knees in tears as I recalled how I had heard him coughing up blood the night before. As a nurse, I knew what this meant. I grabbed his hands and begged him to just quit smoking. He teared up and said if that was all I wanted, after 55 years of smoking, he would do it. When I came back for Christmas, my mother said she was getting me a gift but to go and look on his dresser for mine. There was the last pack he had bought, unopened, with the lighter lying beside it and a note… Merry Christmas, Cheryl. He lived another 17 years and was blessed to meet his grandchildren and they were blessed to have him. My best present ever!

  • barb2167

    December 22, 2015

    My most significant gift was from my great-grandmother. I received her wedding ring. It was significant not just because she wore it as a wedding ring but because she was the first generation (on my mother’s side) that came to America for a better life. They fled their country due to religious persecution and they wanted to be in America. My aunt (at the time was 18months) was ill and they weren’t going to let them in. My great great grandmother pleaded and so they were let in but had to change their names. We honored my great grandmother by placing her name on the wall at Ellis Island.

    I wear the ring every day as a reminder that no matter what happens in life you will survive.

  • Darcy Monchamp

    December 22, 2015

    My most memorable Christmas Gift wasn’t the gift but the love.
    My husband was really excited to present to me my first computer. I felt bad because although I appreciated the gift, at first all I could think of was how we really couldn’t afford it. Well, I finally realized the love behind the gift when I watched my husband all that day sitting in front of the computer turning it on and off and on and off and…. I never saw someone so disappointed as he was that day. He wanted to give me this amazing gift and it didn’t work once he set it up. It turned out that the mother board fried between the store and our home. It was an easy fix but we had to wait a week before we could take it back for the replacement mother board. I will always see him sitting there turning the computer on and off and on and off in hopes that something, anything would happen. He’s the best.

  • Simon Lee aka (Salvador Guasp)

    December 22, 2015

    I was adopted at 18mnths. The best gift i ever got was from the then Governor of Puerto Rico and the newspaper El Vocero. The Governor gave me the names of my 4 full siblings and El Vocero published a note for me that they translated into Spanish as i didnt speak the language that was read by a younger sister that i never knew existed. This started the ball rolling and i was reunited with 16 siblings and countless nieces and nephews great nieces and nephews ,great great nieces and nephews and son on. my 2 brothers and 1 sister bought me a ticket and escorted me back to San Juan where i left 45 years earlier. I was able to meet most of my family. My parents had both passed on long before this. This jump started my wanting to know my family history and i have been working on it for the last 15 years. I am trying to trace my family history back to the early 14th Century when they invented the printing press and it still in a museum in Mallorca , Spain. I have found many famous people on my journey doctors, military people, etc. This to me is the greatest gift i could have gotten.

  • Bonnie Emmert

    December 22, 2015

    When I was about 8 I asked Santa for a fly fishing rod and reel so I could go with my dad fly fishing. When I got up Christmas morning, my rod ad reel were there, right in the middle of the tree. As I ran toward the tree, I was yelling, “My fishing pole, Santa did bring it!!!” I about knocked the tree down and the ornaments off the tree as I tried to get them out of the middle of the tree. My dad taught me to use my new rod and reel. I have many fond memories fishing with my dad.

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    Esther

    December 22, 2015

    Thanks all for the great entries!

    Joanne, we’d love if you could write to us at . We’d like to hear more about your family discovery!

  • André Möller

    December 22, 2015

    Mine was receiving a Bible when I became 21 years in 1965.
    Received from my late Dad and Mom!!

  • peter elliott

    December 22, 2015

    This is a story from the opposite perspective of a gift that I’ve been able to give this Christmas.
    Some six months ago a lady came in to our local Family History group and mentioned that she was a daughter of an American GI and her mother had died when she was 6 years old. Being brought up in foster care from then, she often thought of her father, but it was much later she attempted to trace him, via his service record, which was the only lead she had, only to find that it had been destroyed in a fire in 1973, and not doing computers thought that was as far as she could go.
    Using the internet, eventually a lady in New Zealand came up with some information which led me to some cousins who unfortunately told us her father had died twenty years ago but they were eager to correspond and send family pictures,
    The latest fact making for a memorable Christmas,for our lady, is that within the last seven days we have been told that she has a half brother still living who she never knew about.

  • mandie laycock

    December 22, 2015

    My best gift was finding out i was going to have a baby . It changed my life for ever and it was the best gift .

  • George Gibbs

    December 22, 2015

    Our best gift, our daughter when she took over my newsagent business, all house deliveries over a wide area. Aged nineteen she found a hotel and flight to give me a break after six months of illness in the sun. She had insisted we go away and not stay at home.
    She could not drive so two reliable friends had to be found to take her on the early morning and evening rounds, she used her holiday to do this, it rained for her the whole week. I returned completely cured and a fantastic smile greeted us on our return. It altered my life because of allowing me to retire years later when selling my saved business, thereby being able to support my children when help was needed on many occasions.

  • Cindy Safran

    December 22, 2015

    In September of 1959, when I turned six years old, I received a gift that I had coveted the most–a Barbie doll. She came in a black and white striped bathing suit, but being from a family of six children, my parents could not afford to buy me any other clothes for her. That Christmas, I longed for the perfectly tailored clothes I saw in the little booklet that came with my doll, but some cost even more than the price of the doll ($3). Christmas morning I opened my gifts, but still no doll clothes. My mom always waited until a lull in the action to bring out the best gifts and she handed me a beautifully wrapped box. Inside that box she had made a tiny pair of black slacks, a dress and the most beautiful pink negligee with a pink satin bow sash. My dear mother had cut apart her own bed jacket to make the negligee. Dad told me she had worked on the doll clothes, sewing them by hand every evening after we kids had gone to bed. There was so much love in those clothes–they were better than anything ever made by Mattel, and I have kept them all these years to remember how very much I was loved.

  • Bettie Murray

    December 22, 2015

    I was a 7 year old girl, 1939, and a big fan of Gene Autry. Santa brought me a cowboy outfit (chaps) two pistols with holsters , a plaid shirt, and cowboy hat! We had an old rocking horse, with real horse hair mane and tail down in our basement. Daddy cleaned it up and brought it upstairs. Now, I had “Trigger.”
    I wore poor old Trigger out that year.

  • Livi Dagley

    December 22, 2015

    The best gift I received was from my Father’s second cousin, Donald Dagley, who first contacted us when I was 12 years old. He was a very enthusiastic family historian and I was hooked. He made a book for me all about the family and many people who married into and became part of our family tree. He passed on a few years back now but I try to enlarge upon the legacy he gave me. A tablet would certainly make me ‘more portable’ in the work. A gift worth more than gold!

  • Erna Leach

    December 22, 2015

    When I was 10-12 years old I wanted a brown, suede purse so badly, it was all I could talk about. It was much more expensive then the gifts we usually got, but I really wanted it.
    I looked and peaked everywhere I thought my parents could possibly have put it…and I found it! I was so happy. But when Christmas Eve came and we opened our presents it was very hard to pretend to be surprised and happy. I cried all night for having been so silly.
    I have not sneaked a look and any present since!

  • D. B. Graves

    December 22, 2015

    My most memorable Christmas was when I was about 7 or 8. I was supposed to get an Easy Weaver. When we got up to get ready to go to Midnight Mass, there was a note from Santa saying that he didn’t have my gift ready before Midnight, but that I would get it by morning. When we got out of Midnight Mass, my Easy Weaver was waiting in the car. I was so excited and totally blown away by how Santa was able to do that. It has been my most memorable Christmas ever. The lengths my parents went to in order to make that happen for me.

  • Bettie Murray

    December 22, 2015

    Remembered that Gene Autry’s horse was named Champion! Don’t know whose horse was named “Trigger.”

  • Monique Daviau

    December 22, 2015

    In 2007 on Christmas day, my 32 years old daughter and myself were playing Trivial Pursuit. My question for her was pertaining to the name of the MGM lion’s name, while she was naming all the lions she could think of and was stuck on looking for the Tarzan Lion, I left her take all the time she needed to get her answer. In the meantime I asked her husband to search on google for her fathers name but to had Tarzan to the name. In my far memories I recalled that this was a nickname for him since he had been a stunt diver.

    Her husband came back and said he had found a biography written on his life in 2005. My daughter read the biography and contacted the author in Wales by e-mail. My daughter had searched for her father in her teens, and found that he was deceased and that is as far as she got.

    Now is where I explain why she had so little knowledge of her father. In the 1970’s I was living and working in Florida and in 1974 I decided that now at the age of 28, I would probably never marry and I wanted a child so I stopped my pills, and left it in the hands of chance or GOD. But I did have some criterias for my future daughter. I wanted her to be tall with natural curly dark hair and blue eyes. So I was looking for a very specific male. After 8 months with no results due to limited choices I went on vacation. I took a cruise on Carnival Cruise’s Mardi Gras and was greeted by the cruise director (tall blue eyed curly salt & paper haired) To make a long story short three months later I had the confirmation that I was pregnant. This pregnancy was plaigued with illness and as I was a Canadian citizen from Quebec, I could benefit from free medical, I returned to Montreal and did not enlighten the cruise director of his impending fatherhood. I had pictures of the father and always kept my daughter appraised of the history of her parentage.

    Now back to 2007, my daughter was put in contact with members of her family in Wales by the author of the biography and learned of her fathers past, a soccer champion, stunt diver in movies among them Elvis’s Blue Hawaii, and living relatives. Now if that is not the greatest Christmas present I don’t know what is.

    It is now 2015 and we have had the pleasure of continuous exchanges of pictures, anecdotes and just small talk on the net. We have had the pleasure of meeting and greeting one of her cousins in 2014 and are hoping for more very pleasant encounters with her new family. We always send and receive greetings throughout the years. WHAT A CHRISTMAS THAT WAS.

  • Barbara Bonomini

    December 23, 2015

    In 1994 we were really really broke because my husband lost his job. We were between apartments and had to live in a motel for 2 months with our 4 boys, until we could move into the new one which our future landlords still lived in. The people who owned the new apartment were kind enough to keep our dog for those 2 months. Living there was a huge financial burden on us, not to mention the craziness that goes on in that sort of place. We struggling significantly because we had to either heat food in a microwave or eat out every day. We were almost completely out of money when one of my coworkers gave me a Scratch off ticket. When I scratched it, it was for $100.00. I bought what I needed for our last week at the motel, and bought another scratch off which paid off $20.00 x 5. Who would have thought that a simple scratch off gift would get us everything we needed to stay one more week and keep us fed, and then pay for the moving truck.

  • Sheryl Taylor

    December 23, 2015

    In the 1950’s, our family traveled to Grandma and Grandpa’s house to celebrate Christmas. It surely was not like our celebrations today as there was seldom a Christmas tree or a very tiny decorated branch if at all. Grandma had a large family and many grandchildren and very little income but she nearly always had a hand-knitted scarf or mittens wrapped for each of us.
    One year when I was about eleven years old, I opened up a package containing a set of aluminum popcorn bowls! It’s the gift I treasured as it seemed like a right of passage to receive such a grown-up gift. I remember looking at it over and over and can still see it in my memories today.

  • Carmel Reynolds

    December 23, 2015

    About 30 years ago, as a single parent, money was in short supply. Through the Church my son was taken on a camping holiday with other young people, so I gave him some money to spend as 12-year-olds do, on crisps and fizzy drinks, and whatever he wanted. He brought home for me a slate picture, which had cost him most of his pocket money.

  • James Lindop

    December 24, 2015

    I was going to write about a book of poems that was given to me when I was six years old by a friend of the family whose father had given it to him when he was six, but I read Hazel Smith’s comment and frankly, my gift pales by comparison. What a wonderful thing to do.

  • Darrel Crawford

    December 25, 2015

    Hi Carmel Reynolds
    Are you related to Solomon Reynolds?

  • Jan Snider

    December 25, 2015

    I wish we could send pictures. This year the most significant family memory was from my sister. She brought our childhood stockings that she had saved for over 40 years to my house. My husband bought a frame to put them in. Luckily our names were on the back of the stockings, so I was able to put names on the stockings. I found an old photo of the stockings showing them hanging from our mantle. The stockings and the picture were framed. It now is a wonderful addition to my Christmas Decor.