Boomer's Journal - A big deal

By Rachel Barduson of Alexandria

It seems like everything was such a big deal when I was a kid. Maybe it’s because everything was such a big deal when I was a kid. Little things.

As we approach another Christmas, I guess it’s a mixture of often-forgotten little things that, strangely, I am thinking about this year.

Little things, like... sitting on the floor of the car while dad was driving and mom was sitting in the passenger seat, right there on the floor between my parents, directly in front of the heater. With the warm air blowing directly on me, I remember that warm and surprisingly safe feeling (no such thing as seat belts and rules back then!). It was the perfect “seat” in the car. Maybe siblings were in the back seat, maybe not. Isn’t it strange... all I remember is always wanting to sit in that particular spot so I could stay warm.

Pictured are various Christmas albums from my personal collection - I’m ready to play them on my retro table-top “record player.”  Photo by Rachel Barduson

Little things, like the magic of a snowstorm. Watching the big snowflakes and the blustering wind that would leave the best snow drift for the best snow tunnels and forts to be built as soon as the wind “died down.” It was right outside our front door and within my reach.

Little things within my reach – or not. Watching the Lennon Sisters on The Lawrence Welk Show and dreaming of being “Janet.” The Perry Como Christmas variety shows. Remembering how I looked forward to The Andy Williams Christmas Special with the Osmond Brothers and praying that it wouldn’t be on the same Sunday night as our church Christmas program. Little Donny Osmond without his front teeth was a far better show than saying my piece, terrified in front of a darkened church with only what seemed like a kind of stage light shining directly in my eyes. I’m sure it wasn’t that way at all, but my terrified little girl brain remembers it that way. You know, those little things we remember.

Speaking of Andy Williams and Perry Como, bringing out my old vinyl Christmas records spurred some of the memories I’m writing about today. As I begin to play them on the retro table-top record player I recently purchased – it’s amazing how these old records within my reach will provide some of the nostalgia I find myself needing this Christmas.

Things, like our sledding and tobogganing hill in the pasture. When I was “little” it was very big and steep and long. Avoiding the barbed-wire fence at the bottom on the hill was a big deal as we slid toward the fence line of the pasture. The hill was so big that every time we looked back up at the top of the hill we had just slid down, we were quite certain that we’d never make it all the way back up. By the time I grew up, the hill had become pretty small, but even though the hill had shrunk, it was still a big deal to sled down it with my sisters when we were grown up.

Funny how things change.

Little things, like... going to the Evansville Meat Market when Dennis Holtberg owned it. We had a “locker” at the meat market and after butchering, that is where we kept our meat. We didn’t have a freezer at home. Any time mom said, “I’m going to the meat market,” I jumped at the chance to go with. Why? Because to me, it was a big deal to “walk into a freezer” and pick out one or two of our meat packages wrapped in white paper – to feel the frozen air and see my breath inside that freezer. It was a big deal.

I may not have gone with dad when he went to Nelson’s Store in Evansville to get our Christmas Eve lutefisk. But it was a big deal when he went – and it was a big deal when he came home with the perfect fillet of Lutefisk, and a few other surprises like candy and peanuts. We all kind of prepared for Christmas Eve dinner, and whether we wanted to or not, we ate lutefisk and green Jell-O salad with shredded carrots and a dab of Miracle Whip on top. The tradition was a big deal. It still is – including the green Jell-O made in Jell-O molds in the shape of a Christmas tree. 

Getting the Sears Christmas catalogue in the mail was a big deal. But it was an even bigger deal when I sat in my special spot to page through it. We had one heater vent in our living room that shot out the best heat in the house, and I would sit on the floor, behind “mom’s chair” and circle all the toys I hoped for – dreaming about how I would play with them. The furnace in the basement was working overtime as I sat by that vent. Meanwhile, sitting there circling my dream gifts, mom would be making a breakfast for champions – oatmeal or Cream of Wheat. I knew there was no way I would get even close to all the circled toys... but after sitting on the floor by the heat vent... that oatmeal, topped with Wheaties and sugar, was the best breakfast ever. It’s such a big deal that it’s one of my favorite winter memories.

The last day of classes before Christmas break was a big deal. We had a Christmas party in our classroom while we were in grade school and we had a “Christmas Tea” while I was in junior high. School break would start when our bus driver gave us a shiny new dime to spend at the Skelly station before leaving on the bus route for home. In elementary school, possibly even junior high, I wouldn’t see any of my classmates during the Christmas break. In high school we still had the Christmas dance before the official holiday break started. It was a big

deal to finally be old enough to go to the Christmas dance.

Christmas break seemed a bit long, but at the same time, Christmas break flew by too fast. It seemed like as soon as we had Christmas Eve it was time to go back to school and by

New Year’s Day, I was ready.

I was ready to get back to my classmates and best friends. I was ready to tackle all the things that went with the grade I was in. In grade school it was a big deal to be the “class monitor” for the week. Of course, the teachers would give everyone a week, but it was still a very prestigious position to be appointed to. Our name would be on the chalkboard for a week – I remember well when Mrs. Lang wrote my name on the chalkboard. It was our duty to clean the erasers – clap them together while the chalk dust would fly. We “helped” with the afternoon milk break. We helped hand out papers, or collect papers. What I knew for sure was, it was pretty important to be class monitor for a week. It gave us (for me anyway) an added feeling of purpose that went beyond being a student. To be a good example of responsibility, I suppose.

As you have probably guessed, nostalgia has gotten a grip on me this year, and perhaps, nostalgia has given me too much time to think. Childhood memories or recent memories of the past year – big and little – some are clear and others are a bit foggy. They say it’s the little things that make a big difference. I agree. I also believe that the little things are actually a pretty big deal. And so, when you stop “to think” this Christmas – cherish the memories, whether little, or – a big deal.