Writers in the Storm

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December 14, 2011

Guest Post by Charlotte Carter: What's Your Favorite Christmas Memory?

I suppose everyone has a favorite Christmas. The year they got the bike they had so wanted. Or maybe a Chatty Cathy doll when those were popular.

My favorite Christmas was the year my daughter Carolyn was born.

My husband and I moved to Anchorage, Alaska when we were first married. He was a civilian engineer assigned to help the Air Force keep their missiles operating. For me, a native Californian who had rarely seen snow much less lived in a snowy climate, it was all quite exciting. And truly beautiful.

I was pregnant as our second Christmas approached. (Which, by the way, gave me an excuse not to tramp through the woods in a foot of snow to cut down our own tree and freeze my feet in the process as I had the previous Christmas.)

As I walked through town doing my Christmas shopping, I admired the decorations draped from lamp poles and the store windows painted with holiday themes. Like most first-time moms-to-be, I wanted to shout to everyone that I would soon have a baby! And thank them for decorating the whole town in honor of her upcoming arrival.

On the evening of December 23rd, my water broke. Off to the hospital we go, which was no easy trick. We’d had a Chinook, a warm spell that melted the snow during the day and turned it to ice at night.

Newly-built Providence hospital was at the end of a long, dirt road, not uncommon in Anchorage at the time, and was crowned over with ice. Driving no more than 5-miles an hour, my husband managed to keep us on the road instead of in the ditch. I was so grateful we, and the baby, were in no hurry.

Baby Carolyn definitely wasn’t in a hurry. She didn’t make her grand entrance until the afternoon of December 24th. It is not possible to describe the surge of love I felt the moment I saw her. Wow! I was a mother. A scary and wonderful feeling.

And the best Christmas present ever! What was your favorite Christmas present?

Wishing you a lovely Christmas and holiday season.

Books that leave you smiling
by Charlotte Carter

Big Sky Family, Love Inspired, available now.
Montana Love Letter, Love Inspired, 10/2012
Secrets of Mary’s Bookshop, Guideposts Books, 2012
www.CharlotteCarter.com

0 comments on “Guest Post by Charlotte Carter: What's Your Favorite Christmas Memory?”

  1. Wow, that's a hard act to follow, but a lovely post! I don't know that I have a best Christmas, but have truly been blessed because I haven't had any bad ones.

  2. Liz, I actually wanted May babies. Carolyn arrived in December (very efficient husband) and Patty in July. While December is awkward for Kingergarten admission, it's all worked out pretty well.

  3. Wow Char. Never knew you lived in Alaska let alone had a Christmas baby there. That "is" a wonderful memory. Thanks for sharing.

  4. Well, Charlotte, I think that pretty much upstages everybody else's Christmas! But I do have wonderful memories of Christmas when my son was small. We had a teeny tiny tree, with only a few ornaments. But I don't think I've ever been happier than watching him look at the tree with awe!

  5. My favorite Christmas would have to be 2005, when my daughter was born. Her birthday is the 26th, but she spent all Christmas day working her way here, lol.

  6. My first born, a son, was born on Dec. 19th. I brought him home on the 21st and put him under our tree. He's still the best Christmas present I ever got! Thanks for the memories, Charlotte 🙂 Isn't it grand when our best memories are about people and not "stuff?"

  7. Stacy, your daughter certainly made your Christmas 2005 worth while. And Ramblings, love how your put your baby boy under the tree. Santa must have been surprised!
    Char.......

  8. I guess my fave Christmas also involves a baby, my first. He wasn't born then. Oh no, his due date was the 26th, but he waited till the 29th. At least he made it in time to be an exemption on our income tax. ;o) But it was his arrival, not that tax perk, that made him my best gift ever.

  9. What a heartwarming post, Char, and a good reminder that the best presents don't always come under the tree! (Though I'll be you'd wished that package had been delivered so easily!)

    If I get my wish, THIS year may be my best Christmas!~

  10. I remember the year (more than 50 ago) when my father borrowed a manikin for a store where he bought clothes for my mother. He and I put the presents (clothes) for my mother on it. We set it up Christmas eve under the tree and she couldn't go into the front room that night.

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