Front Porch: Cherishing holidays past gives a warm glow to the present

I remember the best Christmas gift I received when I was a child, longed-for and cherished above all others. A bicycle.

I had had a baby bike, but this was a big-girl one. It was tall and with a basket, ringer bell and capable of as much speed as my leg muscles could encourage out of it (no gears, of course).

That was in the 1950s, when medium-sized kids could roam about the neighborhood in New York City’s borough of Queens all by themselves, seeking out whichever friends were home to play with – and we could ride our bikes far and wide (or so it felt to us), anticipating all sorts of adventures, as long as we didn’t go farther than certain intersections or into adjacent neighborhoods.

And our bikes put the huge local, but rather a long walk away, city park within easy reach. Oh what exciting explorations were now within my grasp … on my sturdy new grown-up bicycle.

As the season is rolling around once again, and now these many decades later, I’ve been wondering if my children or any of my friends (we’re all in our 70s and 80s) have similar recollections of that one special Christmas gift from childhood. And so I asked.

For my son Sam, it was actually a pre-Christmas thing. He was still pretty small, and I had put him down for a nap, which, apparently, must have been a long one. While he was sleeping, I put up all the Christmas decorations in the house. He woke up to the sound of Christmas carols, and when he came out of his room, the house had been transformed – all the lights were twinkling and the ornaments and wreaths and everything else that denoted Christmas, all in place.

“I remember it looked like the house had turned into a fairyland,” Sam said. “And you know, of course, every present I got has a kid has evaporated from my head now. But I remember that day and that magical feeling.”

My son Carl said it was the Millennium Falcon (thank you, Hasbro), a super-fast space vessel piloted by Han Solo, a prominent character in the “Star Wars” films. “Han Solo was my hero, and I really, really wanted it. Flight training for space.

“I really thought I’d be on another planet by now. Sometimes imagination is faster than technology.”

My husband, Bruce, who grew up in prestatehood Alaska, remembers the BB gun he got when he was in third or fourth grade. He lined up cans and shot at them to improve his aim, which was fun, but also useful. It wouldn’t be too many years before he was out hunting for real with the adults to bring game home for the family to eat.

My friend Kris sent me this note: “Oh, I can tell you that right away. It was a pair of white leather ice skates with pink lining, and they had a big furry ball on the toe with rabbit fur that was half white and half a pretty butterscotch color. I never thought I would get them because we didn’t have the money, but we lived a short way from Eagles Ice Arena at Five Mile Shopping Center.

“It was really like a miracle of Christmas. I actually kept them till probably about 10 years ago because they gave me such a good feeling to look at them and remember.”

Friend Mary Lou said it was a Pendleton pleated skirt when she was a freshman in high school. “We did not have much money, so my wardrobe was sparse. This skirt was ‘hip’ and made me feel like I fit in.”

It was a Weeden model steam engine for friend Bob. His older cousin had gotten one for his birthday, and Bob wanted one, too. Santa delivered.

During WWII my friend Isabelle moved from Spokane to Seattle with her family so her father could work in the war effort. She was given a hint about what she was getting for Christmas when they first moved, that it was something that would last her whole life. It was her very own desk, and it has indeed done that. She doesn’t have room for it in her small apartment now, so but it resides at the home of her daughter in Cheney.

Friend Sandy remembers a Toni doll with a wardrobe case. The doll clothes were handmade by her grandmother. “To this day I can call back just how I felt, so special and grateful.”

The first record player she ever got is what stood out for friend Marie. It was a reverberating needle-arm box type player, and she was about 7. She enjoyed hundreds of hours listening to the few records she had.

Having grown up on a farm south of Spokane, friend Dave, who loved trains, would come into town to visit his grandparents, who lived on Park Road, between the Union Pacific and Northern Pacific railroad tracks. When he stayed with them he could hear the steam engine whistles and the switching in the Parkwater yard. Sometimes they had to wait at a railroad crossing for trains to pass, and reading the names on the 40-foot boxcars felt like taking a road trip to all corners of the nation.

When he was 5 or 6 years old, he received a Lionel 027 electric train set, which was by far the favorite Christmas gift of his childhood.

Son Sam had another Christmas remembrance from when he was little. His three grandparents were living in Spokane by the time he was born (my father had died before then), and they were all present Christmas Day. We’d often also have over a friend or two who were solo at Christmas, with another family coming over later in the day for dinner – so our small house was full.

“I remember how good all that felt,” Sam said. “I probably couldn’t describe it then, but it was warmth and happiness and love.”

I’m voting that feeling as the very best Christmas gift you can ever experience.

Whatever is your holiday observance this time of year, may that be your best-ever gift as well.

Voices correspondent Stefanie Pettit can be reached by email at upwindsailor@comcast.net.