Remembering Christmas – Buz Blog

“When we recall Christmas past, we usually find that the simplest things, not the great occasions, give off the greatest glow of happiness.” — Bob Hope

Looking back over the years, we recall all of the Christmases we’ve experienced and remember what gave us the greatest joy. It surely isn’t the gifts we’ve received. Even as children, that delight is transitory. But for my wife, Judi and I, watching our sons, and later, our grandkids tearing open gifts on Christmas eve or finding presents that Santa left under the tree on Christmas morning, always bring warm memories and reminds us of the true meaning of Christmas. To me, that means focusing on others. Getting together with my sisters and their families. Seeing and enjoying our nieces and nephews and their kids, is an event we look forward to all year long.

As a child, the Christmas I remember most is what I like to think of as my “cowboy in the hospital” Christmas. Just before I turned four years old, I was diagnosed with primary tuberculosis. This necessitated my hospitalization for one year at the Olive View Sanatorium in Sylmar, California. It was a traumatic experience for a four year old to be taken from his home, family and friends, (not to mention the anguish it caused my parents). It wasn’t all bad, though. The nurses, doctors and staff were all very kind. The older kids all knew what I was going through, and helped me and the other little kids as much as they could.

We got to play outside almost every day. After a few days I became “best friends” with Raymond, a Mexican boy who was my age. We were so close and spent so much time together that, on the rare occasions we got to go home for a weekend, my parents told me that I would say things like, “Ahchi wa wa” or “ahchi mama mia” (forgive my Spanish spelling). Back in the early and mid 1950s, cowboy movies and TV shows were the primary entertainment for little boys, and although there was no TV in our dormitory then, Raymond and I still remembered watching them before we were hospitalized.

The prominent cowboy stars at the time were Gene Autry, Hopalong Cassidy (William Boyd) and Roy Rogers. At that time, I was a big Hopalong Cassidy fan. So when we were playing, I was always Hopalong, because he was my favorite. I don’t recall which cowboy Raymond played, but we always had a good time fighting the bad guys.

One day, shortly before Christmas, our cowboy revelry was interrupted by the nurses. All of the kids had to go back in the dorm and sit on their beds. This was completely out of the norm. Raymond and I and the other kids were not happy about it. While we were sitting on our beds griping, two people we recognized, came in from the nurses station. It was Roy Rogers and Dale Evans.

They went around to each bed, talked to each child and gave each one a present. I don’t remember what they said, I was too in awe by their mere presence, but I opened the wrapped box they gave me. It was a sweater and the nurses told my mom and dad that I wouldn’t take it off for three or four days. They also donated two new television sets, one for each ward of the dormitory. After that, no offense intended to William Boyd, but my favorite Western stars were Roy Rogers and Dale Evens, and have been ever since.

That wasn’t a one time event for Roy and Dale. Throughout their lives together, they did so much for others. To kids with tuberculosis or polio and other illnesses, to the orphans they adopted, they gave so much of their time, money and themselves, that every Christmas I can’t help but think of that Christmas, in 1954, and Dale Evans and Roy Rogers as the personification of Christmas giving. That is just one of many of my happy Christmas memories. I hope you all have many of your own. Let me end this with another quote, “And so I’m offering this simple phrase to kids from one to 92. Although it’s been said many times, many ways, merry Christmas to you.” — Robert Wells, “The Christmas Song”