Given it’s the week of Christmas, I thought something Christmasy, Disney, and sentimental would be in order.
When my wife and I married in 1984, we were like many young couples. We were both finishing our bachelor’s degrees and we had little money. When Christmas came around, I had what I thought was a fairly innovative and inexpensive idea of cutting Styrofoam into squares and wrapping them as little gifts to hang on our tree. The effect was nice, but nothing too memorable.
The following year we got out the same ornaments and re-used them. They held, but they looked a little disappointing.
The following summer and fall I had an internship in Los Angeles with Southern California Edison. It meant being away from my wife and child as she was teaching school back in Utah. I missed her dearly, I spent my Saturdays at Disneyland with an annual pass that I had saved for. But the rest of the week was fairly quiet. I knew no one in the area, and I was very much alone.
The park closed early back then on weekdays, so I really couldn’t visit during the week. But when I needed a little Disney fix I would visit the Disneyland Hotel and browse through the shops. The main store sold a wide variety of Christmas ornaments, for what seems like nothing compared to the prices today. But then again, I had nothing. Still, I saved a little money and would visit one night a week where I would purchase one or two ornaments, plus a bag of toffee-flavored peanuts. During the four months stay I had amassed a collection of ornaments that would fill a regular sized tree with a few bows and lights added for good luck.
While ceramic knick-knacks that sat on your shelf were very common, there were actually few Disney ceramic ornaments. This is one of my favorites, though I’m missing three of the dwarfs. And, alas, the three fairies of Flora, Fauna and Merriweather could not withstand the spell of my children handling them. Photo by J. Jeff Kober.
These plastic mold ornaments had a lot more durability. In their day, they were only priced at a $1.75 to 2.98. Photo by J. Jeff Kober.
That still left a few empty moments the rest of the week. My accommodation was a simple bungalow in Fullerton. I went to work early, and then I went surfing right afterward. After that I would go to my hotel room and sit doing nothing but watch TV (this was before the days of doing nothing on a laptop and the Internet). I decided I needed something more to surprise my wife at Christmas. Hearkening back a couple of years, we were married on the first of May. We went to a time share of my stepfather’s for our honeymoon (I would have preferred Disneyland, but again, we had little money). Mother’s Day was right around the corner and my wife had decided to do two cross-stitchings for both her mother and mine. She invited me to help her, which I had little interest. But she noted that the quicker we moved on them the more one-on-one time we would enjoy on our honeymoon (you can see who is in charge). I gave in and learned something about cross-stitch.
So when I thought about how to occupy my time during my internship, I noted a cross-stitch book that was sold at the Disneyland Hotel. I bought it along with the necessary thread, and started to cross stitch ornaments. I made five of them: Chip/Dale, Pinocchio, Donald, Thumper & Dumbo.
What these cross-stitches really represent are the number of times I had to pull out the threads and re do it! Photo by J. Jeff Kober.
And then I took on a full blown Mickey Santa big enough to frame. Did I mention having time on my hands? And does the combination of surfing and cross-stitching make me a Renaissance man?
My favorite. The title says everything: Joy. Photo by J. Jeff Kober.
Late fall, I returned to my wife and daughter. Soon the day arrived to put up our Christmas tree. We bought a tree, put it up next to the fireplace, and hung our lights. Then I got out our old Christmas decorations–the boxes of Styrofoam wrapped in gift paper. I started complaining how old these ornaments looked. She gently reminded me that there was no budget for something better. So I started to smash the Styrofoam. My wife just stared at me incredulously. Then I got up and brought in a large box. Its contents were little ornaments, each individually wrapped in Disney Christmas paper. My wife opened each one, including those I had cross-stitched for her. It was one of the great, romantic moments of our marriage.
We’ve since purchased the fancier ornaments that hang on a tree in our living room. And I haven’t done cross stitch in nearly 25 years.
Our other Disney tree is classier, but it doesn’t evoke the memories. Photo by J. Jeff Kober
But the tree that means most to me is the one in the den, that is decorated with ornaments from years past. We’ve been blessed to enjoy many wonderful Christmases ever since, but that one stands out more than any in my mind. It’s a reminder of how the best things come from the heart.
An old fashioned tree with ornaments collected from Disney during my internship days and over the years. Photo by J. Jeff Kober
Have a Merry Christmas! Looking forward to all the great things that can happen at 2011!
Best, Jeff
