Memories of Christmas from the past celebrating with my family

I have many memories of celebrating Christmas as a child. When I was in elementary school, my family lived on the corner of Rhode Island and Chenango, on the west side of Buffalo. My sister and I attended School 38. We were among a few African American students there at the time. We lived in a large apartment building with several other families. My father worked in Niagara Falls at the Pittsburgh Metallurgical Steel Plant for over 40 years, commuting back and forth across the Grand Island Bridge. He worked in the old coke ovens, which were dark and dirty. He took care of his family working three different shifts. He took good care of us, and we always had a good Christmas.

We had a room in our apartment that was our playroom as children. On Christmas morning the room was filled wall to-wall with toys. There were dolls, tea sets, new roller skates, games, and my brother Ben always received a red wagon for Christmas. In those days there were no electronic toys, so my brother would push the red wagon around the room with one leg on the floor and one up on the wagon. He loved that red wagon! We would get up early in the morning and play all day long. Each one of us had a stocking filled with candy, nuts, and fruit and a small box of raisins.

We lived there in the apartment for a few years. Later we moved to the Eastside of Buffalo. We were among the first African American tenants at that time to move into the new Talbert Mall Projects on Jefferson Avenue and Clinton Street. There were many businesses located in this area— a pharmacy on the corner of Jefferson and Clinton Street; an A&P Supermarket was across the street; and a Dairy Queen across from the pharmacy. It was a busy place to live. I attended the old school 87 down the street from the Projects on Clinton Street. Real trees were sold on the corner of Clinton and Jefferson. They cost only $2.00 each. My parents would send us to purchase a tree on Christmas Eve. We would drag the tree home and place it in a bucket of water so it would not dry out.

Then we would decorate the tree with lights, silver tinsel and colorful bulbs. My mother always cut out colorful crepe paper to hang on the tree. I found out years later that this was a custom from her own childhood growing up in Alabama. We had good times celebrating Christmas as children. Christmas brings back so many memories of a happy and simpler time. In those days it was all about being together as a family. It was all about community and looking out for each other. It was the “Best of Times.”

To all of my Readers: Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, and have a Blessed and Prosperous New Year!!!!