The Post Office will be open today but will be closed on Saturday December 25th for Christmas.
When I was living with Jim and Betty, my father and mother, we opened our Christmas gifts on Christmas Eve. I got married when I was 26 and Darlene and I had four children so we opened our gifts on Christmas morning because of the kids.
My family, mother and father, were middle class. We had money for Christmas. My father was a boilermaker (welder) and my mother was a nurse (LPN). They both worked full time.
When I was little it was standard for me to get two or three gifts. One was marked from Santa and the the others from my father and mother.
During the time that I went to Holy Name Grade School, grades 1st through 4th, I had a lot of friends and we played outside all the time. I think all of those families had lots of kids. I was an only child.
I can remember on more than one Christmas day when I went out to play the other kids asking me what I got and I would change the subject. I was embarrassed because I got one or two gifts. The other kids would have a long long list of gifts. I guess because of having a big family.
I forget what Christmas it was but I am not sure if we had a tree up. I would think we did but there was no gift under the tree for me. Jim and Betty told me that the gift was coming via the mail or UPS or something. It was December 24th when it was delivered and I was home to get it. It was not in gift wrapping or anything.
I opened it and it was a cap gun. It was a pretty neat cap gun. It was a revolver and you actually had to open it and put in bullets and you had to put a single cap in each shell. So you only had six shots and you had to reload like a real gun. I was not happy that it came on the 24th and that was the only thing I got but I did like the cap gun.
I had a lot of toy guns over the years. You got to remember back then that our heroes were Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Hopalong Cassidy, The Long Ranger and many others. They were good heroes. I think you were a better boy from listening to their shows on the radio and even watching them when they came to TV.
I am not sure now days who kids have for heroes. That may be the problem that we are having now days.
I will be 70 in March.
Glenn Beck is 46 years of age so who would his hero have been? I think if Roy Rogers and Gene Autry had been his heroes he would not be the the low life scum that he is now days.
My heroes never killed bad guys. My heroes were honest, truthful and clean living.
Rush Limbaugh is 59 years of age. I would hate to think that he had the same heroes that I had as a kid.
I am not sure if religion played a part in kids my age or not. I was Catholic. I went to Catholic school all my life. We had pray and religion all day long. I was an altar boy at least one entire school year and I would assist the priest for early morning mass and then walk over to Holy Name school. (The church was not next to the school at that time. It was a few blocks away.)
I suspect that movies, like John Wayne movies, had more to do with making people my age decent because of the cowboy ideal. That would be funny and strange if fictitious cowboys made us decent Americans more so that Jesus Christ and religion.
Marry Christmas everyone.
Gene Autry’s Cowboy Code
1.
The Cowboy must never shoot first, hit a smaller man, or take unfair advantage.
2.
He must never go back on his word, or a trust confided in him.
3.
He must always tell the truth.
4.
He must be gentle with children, the elderly, and animals.
5.
He must not advocate or possess racially or religiously intolerant ideas.
6.
He must help people in distress.
7.
He must be a good worker.
8.
He must keep himself clean in thought, speech, action, and personal habits.
9.
He must respect women, parents, and his nation's laws.
10.
The Cowboy is a patriot.
A good remembrance . Gene Autry's Code of the Cowboys didn't strike me as familiar but I found out that quite a few radio and TV cowboys had a code similar but different and I was thinking of Roy Roger's Rider Club Rules.
They'e all good - located this compilation of quite a few Cowboy Codes - all of which seem to have been written by parents in the 1950s since they included minding your mom and dad and a lot of other platitudes.
http://www.elvaquero.com/The_Cowboy_Code.htm
The Lone Ranger had a particularly thoughtful and deep Code - didn't know he was such a philosopher and writer.
Think I like the next to last one best - Code of the West- simple, not as sappy as some of the others, easier to remember if you're a kid or a cowboy.
Have a good Christmas ... keep up the good work and congrats on finally getting some recognition as first blogger. A prophet is without honor in his own land - yours had to come from France of all places! But it came and it's good to see.
Dick in Kansas City Missouri
Inch of snow which will likely be around tomorrow for our second white Christmas in a row.
Posted by: Dick | Friday, December 24, 2010 at 10:54