Merry Christmas

Regardless of how you celebrate or observe the holidays, I am pretty sure that everyone has a good memory (or two) from their childhood. A memory that makes you think fondly of times gone by; a memory that brings a chuckle to your day or a memory that surprises you in its intensity.

Truth be told, I haven’t celebrated Christmas [or any other holiday really] in over a dozen years; and that’s more because I live in California and what remains of my family lives in Pennsylvania. Traveling 3,000 miles – especially in winter weather on the East Coast – isn’t always the easiest feat to complete when finances are tight.

But, when I think about past Christmases, I remember the few years where I was obsessed with then Shaun Cassidy. At that point in time – the late 1970’s – he was one of the stars of the popular TV series The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew Mysteries, and he was a recording artist. [Most TV viewers will recognize Shaun Cassidy now as an established producer on TV shows like American Gothic, Roar, Invasion, Blue Bloods and Emerald City.]

For the few TV seasons that The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew Mysteries aired on TV (from January 1977 through January 1979) I was enraptured by the show – not that I knew what that word meant when I was a little girl – but I certainly loved watching it. What’s more I thought Shaun was “dreamy” and such a good singer. I had several of his albums and would play them on the little turntable that I was given for my birthday one year – around the ripe ole age of 9 or 10. [I had a turntable very much like the one pictured above.]

Opening Christmas presents when I was either 10 or 11 years of age, I was ecstatic to discover that my parents [I was much too old to believe in Santa Claus at that point, wink!] had gotten me the much sought after Shaun Cassidy night gown [which is pictured below]. It may have been a simple gift, but one that I treasured that year and wore it until it was threadbare.

Obviously, I am still a kid at heart. I still love to watch my favorite programs and I love to wear T-shirts – rather than nightgowns – that display images of my favorite actors and/or TV characters. In fact, I now have quite the collection of T-shirts – most depicting artwork done by Jason Palmer – for TV shows like Firefly, Castle, Outlander, Arrow and much more.

But when I think back on Christmas past, I remember how happy I was as a little girl to open that box containing my Shaun Cassidy night gown and racing off to my room to listen to his current hit album on my little turntable.

What is your favorite Christmas memory?

Merry Christmas to you all!