CHRISTMASES PAST, AND PRESENT…

As a very senior citizen, I have many cherished memories of  Christmases past – and present.  I mean, who doesn’t love Christmas?

So stroll with me, down memory lane, as Christmas 2024 approaches…

Childhood memories:

• Trees: Our family always had fresh, not artificial trees. Loved it when so-called farm-grown premium trees were the vogue; trees were sheared to perfection; last time I bought a big (5- to 6-footer), the price was nearing $100+, but you get what you pay for.

• Ornaments: At some point, we had bubbling light ornaments (difficult, since they tilted and sagged; pretty awful).
• Gifts: Our family used to give and receive Harry & David fruit treats, the pears being the best. Hickory Farms mall stores couldn’t compete.
• Mom’s faves: My late mom always waited for the boxed cookies and arare treats arrived at Shirokiya; the great ones came tin containers; her personal treat was the dried persimmons from Japan.
•  Annual ritual: a downtown visit to see the flights on Fort Street; Liberty House had window displays.

• Dandy candy: Frango Mints, at Liberty House. But McInerny has a chocolate-covered almond treat (don’t remember the name). Another treat: a Whitman’s  Sampler box of sweets, with a convenient “index” to help you choose a piece. Remember?
• Gift-opening: My younger sister and I had to wait till Christmas morning to open gifts. No, never did the cookies-and-milk for Santa thing.
• Fruit cake: I  never was a fan of Christmas fruitcakes, those liquor-soaked fruits and nuts and dense, dark cake; an aunt baked them and gave each family a tin of cake. My favorite, however,  was the Kemoo Farms’ Happy Cake, a blonde fruit cake with macadamia nuts and pineapple,  popularized by the late Dick Rodby.

Adult years

• Trees:  Only fresh premium trees, from lots like Home Depot; the Noble firs were great. Brightened with beaucoup strings of LED lights.  No trees in recent years. (See reason below).
• Decorations: Preferred some ornaments bought on trips (Eiffel Tower, Statue of Liberty, Disneyland characters, San Francisco cable bar) but I adored hand-crafted ornaments, too.  And apples; life-sized faux red apples, reflecting a hobby of collecting apples of all kinds, plastic, sculpted wooden ones, fabric, metallic. (These apples still are in our home, in baskets).

• No tree space: The scores of ornaments at Christmas inspired me to do a bunch of miniature décor gifts, simply since making Christmas décor  emerged as part of the giving process. Yes, I ventured into Christmas lapel pins and even candy boxes filled with chocolates years ago, which expanded into Valentine’s, Easter and Halloween.

• Holiday music: Over the decades, our home always had Christmas LPs (CDs later) to hear to Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Johnny Mathis, Andy Williams, The Carpenters, Elvis Presley, The Ray Conniff Singers, The Beach Boys, Mariah Carey, The Brothers Cazimero, Henry Kapono, Willie K and sundry others. These days, you get the whole shebang listening to KSSK Radio.

Nowadays

• No gift-giving in our married life. Vi and I have very few gifts, but we stopped exchanging  Christmas and birthday gifts, the theory being we spend on trips to New  York and Japan instead. If we have gifts from others, we open on the eve after an early dinner out. We give family members baskets of treats, with checks or gift cards.
• Door wreath:  A marriage tradition continues, with a wreath on our front door and a mini one on our mailbox door the holidays. However, this year’s decoration is a stocking with add-on embellishments, since we couldn’t find a plain wreath we liked to decorate.

• Gotta do’s: We never missed the  Brothers Cazimeros’ concerts, back in the day, and still follow Robert Cazimero’s serenades at Chef Chai, Frank DeLima’s comedy show at Blue Note, complete with his “Filipino Christmas” in lighted-tree costume. Took in Diamond Head Theatre’s “White Christmas” to get into the spirit. And we used to be regulars at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel’s Monarch Room, when the irresistible Honolulu Boy Choir would perform Christmas time. “Numbah One Day of Christmas,” Boy Choir-style, was a jewel with the lads’ animated faces and dances.
• Eve and Day outings: We dine out on Christmas Eve and will do it again this year; our family Christmas Night dinners have been replaced by lunchtime gatherings with dim sum and other Chinese restaurant classics, like Peking duck in buns, salt-and-pepper pork chops, and egg tarts for dessert. This revamped daytime tradition is favored by family elders – we all dislike driving at nights – and prefer to be safe at home Christmas night…

• Favorite treats: For gifts or home treats, we always enjoy Big Island Candies goodies, and with the Honolulu store at Ala Moana Center. the original hand-dipped cookies mean  the treats are available year-round, so every month can be Christmas …

Mele Kalikimaka, and tidings for a Happy New Year and new memories to savor…