| Christmas In Rockingham Was a Wonderful Life Too, Jimmy Stewart Part 3 |
| I tried to name the most unforgettable Christmas ever at the McDonald house when I was a kid; realistically, I could not pick a clear winner. Instead, I have narrowed my list down to the final four. I plan to present them in a series of five postings ( posting # 1 is an introduction and each of the final four most memorable Christmases past appear in its own posting). The true story below is posting # 3 in a series of five and a continuation of the stories of series # 1 and series # 2. I encourage each of you to share your memories with all your old friends and readers of Joel's website at joel@rockinghamremembered.com about what "a Wonderful Life" Christmas was "growing up in Rockingham, North Carolina - a small textile town in the South in the ' 50s & ' 60s." Some toys are like men's ties. Ties vary in color, width, and patterns as styles catch on, become the latest rage, and then fade away. However if you put yesterday's fad ties in the back of your closet, you eventually will bring them back to the forefront of the closet as they once more become today's tie fashion. The hula hoop was one such toy. It has faded away and recreated itself several times during the past two or three decades. Even though it was more popular with the girls, I could and still can hula with Elvis gyrations. The only missing ingredient from my grammar school days is endurance. Likewise, the classic toy for boys was the yo-yo. Now not just any yo-yo would do. The yo-yo of choice was the Duncan Imperial yo-yo. Daddy had bought Ken and me the cheap brand wooden yo-yos that fell apart after only a few days usage. Once a yo-yo can be held in the palm of your left hand in your left hand and also held in the palm of your right hand in your right pocket simultaneously then that yo-yo is just like Humpty Dumpty. It can never be put together again! On the other hand, the Duncan Imperial was indestructible. It was made out of tough polyvinyl chloride and attached to your middle finger by multi - ply polyester twine. Both halves of the yo-yo were machine pressed onto a highly polished plastic stem. The manufacturer then printed the Duncan trademark on both sides with glittering high gloss gold paint to showcase its product's logo. Yeah, the Duncan Imperial was the Cadillac of yo-yos. How I longed to have one. Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus! In 1958, Santa slid down the McDonald chimney with three Duncan yo-yos in his pocket. Fortunately, my grammar school buddies at Roberdel were unselfish friends. Not only did those few friends who came back from the previous summer vacation with Duncan yo-yos let me yo-yo with their Imperials, they also taught me tricks. I could do the "sleeper" and "walking the dog." Why I could even go "over the waterfall" twice and take Duncan "around the world." What I was most proud of though was "rock the baby in the cradle." Now I could finally perform all this magic with my very own Duncan! I was eager to show my little brothers just how good I was. Thirty minutes after inspecting all the gifts Santa brought, we McDonald boys were on the front porch with our Imperials. My first lesson with Gary was the basic "learn to yo-yo," simply throw down and retrieve. I had to station Gary on the edge of the porch since he was shorter than the yo-yo string itself. After about fifteen minutes of instruction, it became perfectly clear that all Gary could do was yo. He was days, maybe weeks, away from being able to yo-yo; his Duncan had no come back gear. On the other hand, Ken could yo-yo and that was about it. I went through my repertoire of tricks and made a big brother impression. Ken was a quick learner and showed promise. In fact, Mama had to call him twice to come to Christmas breakfast; he had rather yo-yo than eat. As a result of this new found passion, Ken gulped his food down, slipped his Duncan back on his finger, and asked to be excused from the table. Daddy instructed Ken to go to the front porch to yo-yo and Ken said "yes sir" as he hurried to the front porch. At least, we all thought that was his destination. Instead, Ken made the decision that it was too cold to go outside so he would just yo-yo in the living room. The shattering sound of glass stopped the family breakfast conversation in mid-sentence. It seems that Ken was going to send Duncan "around the world" but Duncan had a layover around the living room chandelier. The ending result was not a pretty picture. Ken's yo-yo string was wrapped so tightly around the chandelier that Mama had to cut it off with her scissors. By the grace of God and the invention of super glue, we salvaged enough big pieces of glass to reconstruct what was left of the globe Ken had broken. Still, the globe had a hole in it because a broken section was never found. To make matters worse, Daddy had bought the chandelier as a present to Mama as a closeout discontinued sale item from JC Penney; yeah, you guessed it, no replacement globe was available. For years, the chandelier globe with a hole in it and held together by super glue was a reminder of the Christmas of ' 58. Finally Mama found a globe that would fit and purchased five to bring the old chandelier into the modern world of lighting. The four old globes and the "Duncan" globe ended up in the trash. Needless to say, Daddy being a "spare the rod and spoil the child" disciple gave Ken another reason to remember the Christmas of ' 58 and of course, another reason to follow the scripture guidance God gave Moses and the Israelites found in the Old Testament. Exodus 20:12 reads, "Honor thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee." I just knew the Old Testament promise in this passage was about to be fulfilled on December 25, 1958. Ken did not exactly honor Daddy's instructions and I was convinced that Daddy was going to kill him that Christmas morning. Somehow Ken lived through it. I can tell you a fact that is as true today as anything you can find in the Bible. Ken, Gary, and I have never yo-yoed in our living room nor anyone else's living room since then. Those memories from forty-seven years ago are still fresh and alive in my mind; yes, those precious childhood memories of growing up in Rockingham, North Carolina - a small textile town in the South in the ' 50s & ' 60s. to be continued ... |
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