Woman in the Middle

Youngest Daughter spent part of Saturday at a local shopping center being Santa’s helper. This particular center, managed by a friend of mine, has a holiday event every year on the first Saturday in December. Santa comes, you can have your photo taken with him, and the kids can do crafts as well.

Youngest and her friend ended up being in charge of the line of parents and children there to see Santa, handing out numbers, and taking the photos with the big guy in the red suit. When Youngest came home she began to empty her pockets of the things that had accumulated while she was busy with all of that. It primarily consisted of all the numbers she collected from people as they got their photos taken. But, as Santa’s helper, she also ended up with  a couple of letters to Santa.

One of the letters was very long and used creative spelling, so I couldn’t really tell you what it said. But the other letter was from a little boy who had gotten his mommy to help him write part of the letter, the part that told Santa what he would really like this year for Christmas. Here is what he said,

“Dear Santa, Please can I have wheels on roller skates, train table, and job for daddy. Thanks, Andy” (He wrote his own name, BTW)

The first part was cute, but that last request really hit me in the heart. My mouth fell open and tears came to my eyes. I hope little Andy gets his roller skates and train table. But I really hope 2016 brings a job for little Andy’s daddy.

Courtesy of images-pictures.com

It is that time of year when I think back to Christmases past….

It was early 1980s, a few weeks before Christmas. My mother and I were browsing in the Broadway Department store.  That was when I saw THEM and the angels sang! They were a pair of black Gloria Vanderbilt jeans. I had never seen black jeans before and it was love at first sight! I told my mother right then and there that I wanted those black Glorias for Christmas. But those jeans were about $40, a substantial sum of money back then for a pair of jeans.  Remember the hey day of designer jeans? They weren’t cheap! Mom poo pooed me, saying they were too expensive. Sigh! I didn’t have a lot of hope that those Glorias would be mine.

My family opened presents Christmas morning.   I opened a package and there they were! The most perfect pair of jeans ever made! That present was right up there with the spinning ballerina doll I got when I was 7 and the new bike I got when I was 12 as best presents ever received.  When college started back in January you can bet I was there wearing those black Glorias. I am pretty sure I was the first girl to hang out by the bell tower at UC Riverside in black jeans.

According to Wikipedia, Glorias were more tightly fitted than other jeans of the time. That might explain  one phenomenon I experienced while wearing them at the bell tower. Those puppies got VERY hot in the sun and even the rivets would heat up and start to get uncomfortable! But I was willing to pay the price to wear those Glorias.

I admit it, while I am many pounds away from ever wearing them again, I still have those Glorias. Some things you just can’t give away.