{"id":40,"date":"2011-12-16T00:42:00","date_gmt":"2011-12-16T05:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.robertxgillis.com\/?p=40"},"modified":"2014-02-01T23:08:35","modified_gmt":"2014-02-02T04:08:35","slug":"a-letter-to-mom-on-christmas-day-2005","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.robertxgillis.com\/?p=40","title":{"rendered":"A letter to Mom on Christmas Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Downtown<\/a>By Robert Gillis<\/em><\/p>\n

Sent to Mom Christmas, 2005
\nAnd published in the Boston City Paper 11\/2011<\/em><\/p>\n

I thought I would share a letter I wrote to my Mom on Christmas a few years back. I emailed it to her this morning and she loved these wonderful memories, and I thought it would bring a smile to the readers during this Christmas month.<\/em><\/p>\n

Dear Mom,<\/p>\n

Over twenty-five years ago, you, Theresa and I would make our annual Christmas shopping trip into Boston an extremely enjoyable day. We didn\u2019t own a car and this was in the pre-mall days, so this trip to the city was a big deal for us. We rode the bus to the T station, and took the red line to the station that was simply called \u201cWashington\u201d back then. As the rackety and antique Hawley street escalator made its wonderful \u201cclack clack clack\u201d noise, I thought about the $35 bulging in my wallet and how rich I felt. I\u2019d saved for weeks for this day.<\/p>\n

We stepped off the escalator into the cold December afternoon, and we heard the familiar ringing of the Salvation Army bells. I smiled again. Boston! Christmas time! We\u2019d be so excited that we could barely contain ourselves. Our first stop was always Arch Street Church, to go to confession (\u201cBless me father, I took the name of the Lord in vain twice\u201d) and then we\u2019d light candles and say prayers.<\/p>\n

From there we\u2019d head to the store that used to be called Jordan Marsh. The store was always mobbed, and it was very exiting to be flooded with all the scents from the perfume counters and the visual explosion of Christmas in every direction. We\u2019d get on the escalator and head upstairs to the Enchanted Village, and then head upstairs to see Santa.<\/p>\n

At the mature age of 11, I was already \u201cin the know\u201d about who was really delivering the Christmas presents, but at age 8, Theresa still got her picture taken. I\u2019ve often reflected about what a joyful period it was when Theresa believed and I didn\u2019t \u2014 it really made the holiday more special.<\/p>\n

After Theresa got her picture taken, we\u2019d begin our shopping. We\u2019d head to Woolworth\u2019s, Grants and Kresgees, and I remember the roar of the heating air vents as they blasted us with warm air as we entered each store. We\u2019d go in separate directions, buying little presents for each member of the family. By dinnertime, the bags were already heavy and we were starved. We usually had dinner at the Kresgees basement cafeteria \u2014 it might not have been the best restaurant in town, but it sure felt like it to us. Our hamburger fries and drink (and chocolate pudding) were more than enough to make us happy.<\/p>\n

After dinner, we\u2019d start our shopping again, and by around 8:00 we were done. We\u2019d head back to Grants and pick up some Spanish peanuts, and then walk over to Boston Common to see the Christmas lights. It was cold out, but seeing all those beautiful colors hanging from the trees was well worth the discomfort. We might even take the trolley to Prudential Center to see that famous Christmas tree. Ablaze with over 15,000 multi-colored lights, it was (and still is) quite a sight.<\/p>\n

After the subway and bus ride home, we\u2019d find that Dad had made us some of his terrific homemade fried rice, and then it was time to wrap! Although we still had two weeks until Christmas, both Theresa and I made sure that we carefully wrapped our purchases that night. The day wouldn\u2019t be complete until this was done.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m so grateful to you for the many years you took us into Boston. Back in the leaner days when money was tight and trips to McDonalds were special, that one day meant more to us than any other day leading up to the Christmas Holiday. Sure, it was a much simpler time, yet I think back to those shopping trips and realize that it was a day that flooded all five senses with Christmas. It was a day of joy \u2014 so much joy that I thought I\u2019d explode.<\/p>\n

You always made Theresa and me so much a part of the Christmas season \u2014 we could decorate any way we liked, you taught us the importance of the Nativity set Memere gave you 9that you still display every year), and I remember the special treats like the raspberry candy, peanuts and M&Ms; you put out every year.<\/p>\n

I remember your Christmas dinners. I remember the joy we felt sitting with you and Dad opening presents.<\/p>\n

I remember it all, and I am so grateful for all of it.<\/p>\n

Thank you, thank you. Merry Christmas Mom. I cherish my Christmas memories with you.<\/p>\n

Love, Bobby<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Robert Gillis Sent to Mom Christmas, 2005 And published in the Boston City Paper 11\/2011 I thought I would share a letter I wrote to my Mom on Christmas a few years back. I emailed it to her this morning and she loved these wonderful memories, and I thought it would bring a smile […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christmas"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.robertxgillis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.robertxgillis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.robertxgillis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.robertxgillis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.robertxgillis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.robertxgillis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.robertxgillis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.robertxgillis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.robertxgillis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}