Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 10:28 — 6.6MB) | Embed
Welcome to Stuff I Learned Yesterday. My name is Darrell Darnell, my favorite Christmas movie is National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, and I believe that if you aren’t learning, you aren’t living. In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I share a Christmas story about Kansas, Tron, peanut brittle, and singing.
Friday Forum
I want you to be a part of the Friday Forum! Friday Forum is your opportunity to Share what YOU’VE learned, so that other listeners and I can learn from YOU. It can be a message as short as 30 seconds or several minutes long. It really doesn’t matter just as long as it’s something that will benefit others. You can participate in Friday Forum by visiting our Feedback Page or calling our voice feedback line at 304-837-2278.
What I Learned Yesterday:
Since a few of my stories over the next few weeks are going to be centered at my aunt and uncle’s home in Liberal, KS, today I want to tell you about their home and what I learned from traveling there each year during my childhood.
Like most kids, I looked forward to Christmas break every year. What’s not to look forward to, right? Two weeks with no school, new toys would soon be in my hands, more time to play with friends, and if we were lucky, we might even get some snow. Those are the things kids love most.
For as long as I can remember, up until I was in 8th grade, my family traveled to Kansas for Christmas. We’d load up the car, head northwest up toward the Oklahoma panhandle, crossover into the sunflower state. Just a mere 3 miles across the Kansas/Oklahoma border was our destination: Liberal, Kansas.
My uncle worked in short wave radio. He made a very nice living and they had a home big enough to house quite a few of us for nearly a week. It was a split level two story home. The outside of the home was adorned with bright multicolored Christmas lights and the front door was decorated with a wreath. The moment the front door was opened the spirit of Christmas filled the air. They had a music box attached to the front door and every time it was opened it would fill the house with the sound of Jingle Bells.
Once we arrived we went through the ritual of hugs and smiles and “oh my look how big you’ve gotten” types of greetings. We’d then unload our car and carry all of our stuff inside. The downstairs of their home was bigger than any other home I’d ever been in. It had a huge family room with a big fireplace, wet bar, 2 or 3 bedrooms, full bath, and laundry room. The family room also had a large nook area that was the perfect spot for a Christmas tree and had plenty of room for all gifts that would be exchanged between our group of a dozen or so people.
Once we unpacked we headed upstairs. There they had another living area with couches, a large dining area, kitchen, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and a porch that led out to a backyard deck.
Over the course of the next few days we shared many meals together, and lots of snacking in between meals. My uncle made the best peanut brittle, and there was an endless supply of fudge, peppermint candy, and other treats.
Each year the kids were encouraged to show off their talents. Some of us played instruments and others of us sang. So we’d spend time leading up to Christmas to put together the songs that we would perform Christmas Eve night.
My aunt and uncle also had gadgets that I’d never seen. They had a laserdisc player with cool movies like Tron, Star Wars, and Indiana Jones. They had an Apple II computer with a flight simulator game. My cousin, Garth, was a massive Star Wars and Star Trek fan and he had what seemed like every Star Wars toy available at the time. The downstairs closet was filled with all kinds of board games and card games so there was never a lack of things to do.
My brother and I slept on cots in the family room downstairs. Each night when I went to bed I knew I was one night closer to the big day.
Finally the day would arrive. On Christmas Eve night we would all dress up and head downstairs for the festivities. My Uncle Len had a fire blazing and the wet bar was loaded with all the soda our parents would let us consume. The kids gathered in front of the tree, sang the songs and performed the musical pieces that we’d worked on. By this time the Christmas tree was overflowing with presents and one of the adults was chosen to hand out all the gifts.
Once all the gifts were divided, the fun began. Tradition in my family dictated that we opened gifts one at time starting from the youngest (me) and ending with the oldest. We chose a present, read off the label and read aloud who it was from, and then opened it. We held it up for pictures, thanked the giver, and then moved on to the next present. Once that person had opened all of his or her gifts, it was time for the next oldest to take their turn.
While I loved the fact that I got to go first, I must admit that it was torturous to then have to wait for everyone else to finish before I could rip into my new toys.
Those years that we spent in Liberal were the best Christmases I ever experienced. I loved them. When I was in 8th grade or so my aunt’s health declined due to diabetes. Although I’d known her to inject insulin for as long as I can remember, I never realized serious diabetes was. Due to her need to be closer to a larger medical facility, they moved here to OKC.
We continued to have Christmas at their home, but it wasn’t the same. Instead of driving for 5 hours and staying nearly a week, we drove for 20 minutes and stayed a few of hours.
Shortly after Christmas during my senior year of high school, my aunt died due to complications with diabetes.
Here’s what I learned.
Nothing in this world lasts forever. I miss those Christmas trips to Kansas and I wish I could go back and experience them again. Now that I have the perspective as an adult, I have so much appreciation for my aunt and uncle. The thought of housing a dozen members of my family for a week is not something that interests me in the least. In fact, I think it would drive me mad.
But my aunt loved the Christmas season. She loved decorating, she loved playing hostess, she loved opening her home to her family. I wish I could thank her for that. In case you’re wondering why I don’t thank my uncle, sadly, he also had diabetes and it took his life a few years after it took my aunt’s.
While it saddens me that my aunt and uncle are no longer here and that we don’t get to have Christmas with them anymore, I am extremely grateful that they are not gone. My aunt and uncle are alive and well in my memories and in the memories of all those they showed hospitality to.
I know it’s hard for many of you this time of year because of the sorrow you feel for those you have loved and lost. I’m with you. It is in those moments of sadness that I am brought back to joy. I find joy in the memories. I’m reminded that instead of being sad at the times we didn’t get to share together, I can be happy and grateful for the times we did get to share and the memories that we made together.
So I will do my best to remember that just like those who have already passed on, my time on this earth will one day come to an end. Those I leave behind will then only have the memories that we made together. So I am inspired this Christmas and every day that goes by a different name to make the most of the time I have left and make memories with those God has placed in my life.
I’m Darrell Darnell and this has been stuff I learned yesterday.
Tis the season to be shopping, right? If you’re like me, finding the best prices and the most reliable shipping is critical. Of course, Amazon.com is great when it comes to prices AND shipping. When you’re shopping at Amazon.com you can not only get their great prices and reliable shipping, but you can support Golden Spiral Media in the process. By visiting www.goldenspiralmedia.com/amazon, you’ll get the same Amazon service and a portion of your purchase will go to support the content creators here at Golden Spiral Media.
Follow Golden Spiral Media on Twitter at GSMPodcasts and Facebook.com/GoldenSpiralMedia. To subscribe to Stuff I Learned yesterday, visit GoldenSpiralMedia.com/subscribe. If you’ve enjoyed this episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday, I would be grateful if you’d leave a review in iTunes.
[sc:stuff]