Armchair Chats

Drew Brossmann

It’s hard for me to pick just one Christmas moment that I cherish the most because so many are close to my heart. One is being a child at our Havel family gathering with tons of games, great food and snacks. I remember opening gifts and sticking all the bows on my PoPo Jerry as he slept on the recliner. Another memory I cherish is the first Christmas with my two sons. Carrie and I sat together on Christmas morning watching the joy and amazement in their eyes as they opened their gifts.

My favorite childhood gift was my first deer rifle! That one gift led to numerous memories for me in the future.

The worst gift I ever received has to be a set of rollerblades. It is amazing that I never broke my neck because I fell down headfirst so many times. You learn really quickly if rollerblading is your sport but it was not mine!

My favorite Christmas hymn is O Come All Ye Faithful by Sara Evans.

As far as the fruitcake goes, I am going to pass. I will take a poppy seed roll any day.

Bobbie Nash

Community Volunteer

My favorite Christmas memory is from when my son was 10 years old. I was a single mother with two children, working as a school cook. Money was very tight. For my daughter’s present, I made some doll clothes, plus socks and undies, and a little wooden high chair and fixed up one of her dolls. For my son, I really scrimped to buy him a GI Joe because he was a little older and I didn’t want him to have to go to school and say Santa had passed him by.

Two days after Christmas, he couldn’t seem to find his GI Joe. I must admit I was pretty verbal about how disappointed I was in him.

School started back up after New Year’s and I was in the cafeteria when a lady whose family was new in town came in. She thanked me for giving her son a GI Joe for Christmas because he would have had nothing otherwise. If there was ever the true meaning of Christmas, my son lived it that year and I’ve made it a point to assume the best in people since then.

Oh goodness, gifts have never really been a big part of our Christmas for me. My daughterin- law and son gave me a dress with matching earrings one of the first Christmases after they were married. It was the prettiest dressy dress I ever had.

George can never think of anything to give me, even though I’ll usually make suggestions.

Paul Mikula

Retired HEB Store Director

One of my favorite Christmas memories is watching the annual Andy Williams Christmas Special on TV with my parents, who were killed 45 years ago. I cherish that memory of the way-too-few Christmases we shared.

When I was a 10-year-old kid, I got a whole set of Hot Wheels with tracks and supercharger. That was my all-time favorite gift. Those cars would zip around the track. I had hours and hours of pleasure playing with it.

My worst Christmas gift as a kid was anything clothes-related like a sweater vest.

As for my favorite Christmas carol or music, I especially like Do You Hear What I Hear? and Mary, Did You Know? I think I relate hearing that music performed back to those Andy Williams’ Christmas specials, as well.

My aunt, my mother’s sister, could really bake and made fruitcake, so if it’s served, I’ll eat it. Some taste better than others, though.

Cindy Villarreal

Executive Director of Senior Connections/formerly Navidad Valley Community Connections

I grew up in Corpus Christi and remember spending the night at my Gramma’s house. My sister and I would ask if we could sleep in the living room where Gramma’s Christmas tree was set up. Gramma had one of those aluminum Christmas trees full of ornaments and tinsel with a color wheel that just made everything seem intensely magical. The Nativity and the Three Wise Men looked so dramatic and real that it made a very reverent scene, too.

I remember thinking how special my Gramma Rodriguez must be because the Christmas tree at home was not at all like her Christmas tree. That made me feel so loved and special being her granddaughter.

My favorite childhood gift was when I was 15. My dad bought me a huge scientific microscope set that made me catch my breath. No one else would have known that I would cherish such a gift. How had Dad known that I had been dreaming of one but just knew better than to ask for it?

Being the second of seven siblings in our family had taught me not to ask for much. To see the twinkle in his eyes and know that he was seeing the twinkle in mine made the moment between us so special. Again, I felt so genuinely loved for who I was.

I would have to say that receiving a set of pots and pans was not my all-time favorite gift. I felt like it was reminding me to cook, so I went on a cooking sabbatical. I do love to cook, but prefer to do so when I feel like it, not because I must.

Silent Night, Holy Night is my favorite Christmas song. Growing up in a Catholic school gave me a strong foundation and this song is one of mellow reverence that tells a story for me. It also was one of the first songs I learned to sing in my Catholic elementary school choir. Since those days, it has always been special to me.

Fruitcake? No, not for me. I did not grow up eating fruitcake so I never developed a taste for it. It reminds me of a dessert that older folks eat with their coffee, so not for me.

Lisa Gay

Warda News Correspondent for The Fayette County Record

As children we participated in the church Christmas Eve service each year. When we got home, Santa had come! As we got older, we realized that whenever we got ready to back out of the driveway to leave for that church service, either my mom or dad had forgotten something and had to run back into the house. Hence, that was Santa coming.

A big gift was the year my sister and I both got cameras with the built in-flash. The next gift we opened was a photo album and on the front page stuck underneath that peel-off clear film was a $5 bill. We felt like we had won the lottery!

A disappointing gift? In our grade school, all the kids drew names for a Christmas party gift exchange. Invariably, when party day came, some kid would forget to bring a gift for the child whose name they had drawn. The principal’s wife would always have a wrapped box of chocolate-covered cherries for the forgotten kid. One year, that kid was me and I got the chocolate- covered cherries. To this day, I won’t eat those things.

I grew up going to the Serbin church and school. As children, we learned to sing the German Christmas hymns. Gott Ist Die Liebe was always, and still is, my favorite.

Fruitcake was always a strong NO for me. However, last year I bought a small fruitcake for my husband at the Bastrop Farmers Market. That night, he ate it and told me I should try it. After much coaxing and him going on and on about how much better it was than the Texas fruitcakes that come in a tin, I finally gave in and took a bite. Oh my goodness! It was good! But that’s the only fruitcake I’ll eat from now on.

Craig Moreau

Fayette County Chief of Emergency Management and Homeland Security

My gramps would always say a prayer for our family and a prayer for the USA before we opened gifts. All us kids would be incredibly anxious but the prayer must have been the longest one of the year. Later in life, I got brave enough to peek at him while he was praying and he would be grinning from ear to ear. He knew that the kids were ready, and thought it was hilarious to extend the prayer while they were anticipating their new toys. I’d give anything to see my own kids become restless during the marathon prayer session like that. I’m sure my gramps is looking down on us and still smiling from ear to ear.

No question, my first real rifle, a Marlin .22lr bolt action was my favorite childhood gift. It was my first taste of freedom and first taste of being a grownup. I was allowed to roam and explore the woods for hours on end and bring home whatever wild game I could find. If there was no wild game in-season, I would practice on every tin can available. I still have that first rifle and it is one of my most cherished possessions.

Fireworks were the worst gift I ever received. One year, our cousins gave us a big box of fireworks, but did not explain all the intricacies. I was quite young and thought that the roman candles and the bottle rockets both worked in a similar manner. After shooting the roman candles while holding them, I tried the same trick with the bottle rockets. Needless to say, I burned my hand really badly and still have a small scar on my left hand.

Silent Night has always been the song that epitomizes the Christmas season for me. O Holy Night would be a close second.

Until recently I was a hard “no” about eating fruitcake, but it is starting to grow on me a little. I award bonus points if it is served with some really strong, unsweetened black coffee.

Larry Jackson

Retired Publisher of The Fayette County Record

One of my favorite Christmas memories is being with my dad and cutting down a cedar to bring home for our Christmas tree. I’m sure my memory embellishes the reality, but it seems like we looked and looked for just the right tree out in the Hill Country. We chose a few nice branches to wire into the rather scrawny tree to make it look better. The pungent smell of cedar often brings this wintery memory to the fore.

Presents from the A.C. Gilbert Co. topped my favorite childhood Christmas gifts. My brother and I were jointly given a Gilbert chemistry set, a Gilbert microscope set and a Gilbert Erector set. I loved them all.

Probably it’s because I’m an editor, but my favorite is God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen. It’s because of the comma. This is not a song about “merry gentlemen,” but about God granting us gentlemen a merry (happy) rest. Yes, I really am pedantic. And I also really am grateful.

Fruitcake? Yes, moist, not dry, preferably with lots of whipped cream on my slice.

Teresa

Stanley-Brown

Gardenia E. Janssen Animal Shelter Executive Director

I have very precious and vivid memories of spending each Christmas Eve at my grandmother and papaw’s home with my immediate family, aunts, uncles and lots of cousins. We lived in Tupelo, Mississippi, and my grandparents’ home was in Mooreville, Mississippi, about 15 minutes away. It was a houseful of family, food, holiday traditions and love! I’ve shaped much of my own family’s traditions with those cherished memories.

When I was five or six, I got my first bicycle, a hand-medown from our neighbors. The bicycle was from Germany, and I thought it was the coolest in the neighborhood!

My favorite Christmas song is The Little Drummer Boy. For me this song speaks of how important it is to give to others, no matter the gift or value, but to give is to receive.

As for fruitcake, no, not under any circumstances for any reason.

Sally Garrett

Fayette County Extension Agent

I have many wonderful Christmas memories but one special and funny memory happened when I was in college. I grew up in Kansas City and loved to view the lights that families and businesses strung up for the holidays. One special place was the Country Club Plaza. The Plaza, designed in Baroque and Moorish Revival styles, is a unique and beautiful shopping center that opened in 1923.

A special ritual during the holiday season was the Lighting of The Plaza on Thanksgiving evening. I had never viewed this event and that year my sister, a visiting college friend from Connecticut and I went up the surrounding hills to watch as all the lights in the Plaza were turned on. We found a spot among the crowd that had gathered and when the lights came on everyone went, “Wow.” It was a beautiful sight that really took my breath away. As I stood there just amazed at the sight, my friend turned to me and said, “Is that it?” My sister and I just looked at each other, smiled and told her, “Yes, that is it – we can go.”

My favorite gift was a set of roller skates because when I was in junior high, everyone went roller skating at the rink on Friday nights. I dearly wanted my own roller skates and got them that Christmas.

I enjoy most of the Christmas carols and songs, especially Feliz Navidad because it is lively and just fun.

NO to fruitcake. In fact, I think I have re-gifted a fruitcake with a message that if it is returned to me, I will put a curse on the person.