Emails galore and Christmas memories

   I nestled in my red Lazy Boy chair for my afternoon nap the other day. I just got settled in when my email on my cell phone went off like a machine gun in a war zone. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding…it rang out like a Christmas Carol.
   I checked and what do you know? It was Christmas ads central. Not just a few, several hundred of them.
Overstock, Lowes, Menards, Wayfair, Sears, Tractor Supply, Hy-Vee, Sam’s Club and more.
   Every time I look at something on Facebook, eBay or check the price on Amazon, I have to give my email out or somehow it magically appears on the email list and my inbox.
   That happened the other day. I was looking at a product on Wayfair and I had to give my email to find the price. Many business ask for your email. They all promise to not sell your information, but somehow one email leads to 10 more emails.
   Just a few days earlier, I opened my email account and I had 400 Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals.
I spent the next 30 minutes, as if I has nothing else to do in life, deleting 385 emails. Most were Christmas related, but others were just junk. An hour later, I had 25 new advertisements fill my inbox. They all went in the trash, too!
  I remember the first time I got an email account in the early 90s. I was a student at the University of Missouri-Columbia. I thought it was the greatest thing since sliced cheese.
   I checked my account often, thinking someone may write. Of course, no one knew I had email, so no one wrote me.
   That isn’t the case these days.
   Nowadays, people communicate with email, businesses make deals on emails, students do assignments on email and other outlets such as Goggle Docs.
   Even on my day job, I use email to communicate. I use computers to fill orders, move supplies and work on the company newsletter.
    It’s all kind of crazy.
  I can remember when we didn’t have email or texting, when people actually talked in person or on the telephone to visit or get information. And a person used a dictionary, not Alexa to spell a word or look up information. I had to use Alexa to spell Alexa. I can also remember dial telephones, driving a car without seatbelts and riding my bicycle without a helmet.
    I love Christmastime and have many fond memories of waking up on Christmas morning to see what Santa left under the tree.
    I remember one year I got so excited about Santa and Christmas that I went to bed at 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve, thinking the magical day would arrive a little quicker.
   Later that evening a knock on my bedroom window aroused me from my slumber. I pulled back the window blind and there was Santa with his bright smiling face checking on me. I got so excited I was about to run into the living room to see what he left me. It was only 8 p.m., a little early for Santa to visit. He must have made a special trip to say hello!
   I still have my Allstate train from Sears and Roebuck that I got when I was 7 years old. It’s a little rough around the edges these days. All it needs is a new transformer and it will be good to go. At 61, I’m a little rough around the edges and sometimes I need a little transformation to get going, too.
    I can remember my brother, Tom, and I always left cookies and milk for Santa and on Christmas mornings all that was remained was a saucer and empty glass.
     I can’t forget about decorating the Christmas tree. My family never decorated for Christmas until Dec. 15.
I still have the manger set with Baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the animals and the Wisemen. My mom bought it at TG&Y Five and Dime store in Tulsa. The manger is in poor shape and I hope someday to have a replica built.
    And I can’t forget about the many Jackson and Horton family gatherings on my mom’s side of the family and with my great grandmother Minnie and other family on my dad’s side. Such wonderful memories.
   COVID has brought a lot of unwanted changes in this world. But there is one thing it can’t steal, your memories. Hang on tightly, keep walking, keep praying and keep believing. Good days are on the way. Merry Christmas to all!
     Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day and always.