Reminiscing

Backstory

I have a lot of stuffed bears. I collected them when I was younger and while I am not actively collecting them anymore, I still like the ones I have and many of them have special meaning to me.

I have a particular one that J bought me when we were dating that holds a special spot in my heart. He is not the most expensive or fancy bear out there but I know that J saw it, and thought of me when he bought it. He (the bear) is very squishy and definitely awesome to sleep with due to his cuddliness. Last night was the first night I had slept with him in a while (don't usually when J is home) since J is gone for a few days on a business trip.

I think because I was sleeping with him, I had a dream (or several dreams but only one that is relevant to this post) about Christmas shopping in my hometown when I was a kid. I lived in a small town of about 17,000 people. The nearest "city" was about 20 miles away and they didn't have a mall until I was in high school. They had a JcPenney and a Montgomery Wards in their downtown area and a Sears with an attached Newberrys a bit from that. I didn't start going to that town to shop for Christmas until after I started driving so I pretty much stuck to what our own downtown offered. Now remember, I lived in a town that was sustained by tourists during the summer months (there is a link to my hometown on my sidebar), so many of the shops were a bit pricy and ever so quaint. Of course, I had nothing else to compare them to, so I didn't realize that I might have been paying more or seeing less of a selection of gifts than those shopping in other areas.

Anyhow, I remember enjoying Christmas shopping on my limited funds as a kid. We had two different ice cream shops that had all types of treats for sale, there was Nimbus, Rare Earth, Paddington Station and of course Rexall Drugs among others. I could go from store to store trying to figure out what to get my grandma, pa, mom, dad and sis. I remember how nice and warm each shop would be as I stepped out of the cold crisp air. Shopping for other people was new to me because I had just reached the age where I had a few dollars of my own and started to realize that having other people buy for me wasn't all that Christmas was about. I really anticipated my family opening the gifts I had selected for them on Christmas morning. Of course they were small things, especially compared to things today, but their delight was something I really looked forward to.

I am going home for the holidays this year (much of my family still lives in the area, as well as much of J's) and I am actually holding off on some of the shopping so I can spend some time in my old downtown selecting gifts for my family. I am sure things cost more than they would at the Walmart ten miles away but I want to grasp onto some of that old Christmas spirit and keep it close to my heart.