Just a '94 Christmas Story

I, like many others my age, have a mixture of both joyous nostalgia and sadness that drift through my heart during the holidays. I love the mischief and fun of Halloween, the family time and stories of Thanksgiving, and the sacred magical love that permeates my heart and home at Christmas. The memories of all those Christmases with my family, the trips around town looking at Christmas lights, the unendurable excitement of Christmas night, and the pure ecstasy of waking my parents up at the crack of dawn to see what Santa had brought to our home while we slept. I can still smell the cinnamon-apple candles in the air, the feeling a cool air and my warm housecoat, the iconic smell of new kid's pajamas (probably toxic now that I'm thinking about it).... And most of all, the feeling of being together as a family and not having a single care or stress in the world. It was pure bliss.

But, as time marched on, and the years began to add up, the feeling of Christmas slowly drifted away. The decorations got fewer and fewer, the build up got less and less exciting, and the traditions slowly faded into childhood memories. How had Christmas, the most magical and beautiful night of the year, decayed into just another day with a big meal and some presents? How had we LET it become this empty shell of itself? I wondered this very thing for many years...then it happened... I got married and suddenly there were two new creatures running around my house! Where once Christmas had just been me and my dog watching Die Hard and Gremlins then going to see my parents on my day off, NOW Christmas was like pure adrenalin being IV dripped into these two "drunk monkeys" that were bound and determined to shake my house off its foundations if I didn't join in the holiday festivities! The magic was back whether I wanted it or not...and I couldn't have been happier for it! Christmas was back baby! Now there were presents hidden around the house, cards being put up as decorations, stockings, and the old retired tree was resurrected with more glory than it had ever felt before.

With all the joy and tradition returning to my home, I found myself being so full of nostalgic joy that there just wasn't room for the sadness of years gone by to take hold. I was too happy to even dream of the holiday blues. And, as I sat on the sofa, watching my kids bouncing off the walls with candy canes and hot cocoa coursing through their veins opening presents and thanking their mother and I for finding exactly what they wanted (99% my wife's doing if I'm being honest), I remembered being the kid back in the 90s opening my presents and seeing the look of joy and satisfaction on my Mom and Dad's faces. It was a perfect passing of the torch. I can't thank my parents enough for all the struggles and stress, sacrifices and bargain hunting they did to make sure my sister and I always had a magical Christmas. And, in their honor, I'll always give the same level of care to giving my kids the same magic each year. Christmases are a finite experience. We don't know how many of them we get to celebrate in this life. So, deck those halls, decorate those trees, and give those that mean the most to you all your love every year. Make them ALL special and make sure there's always plenty of joy in those days and those memories to chase away the holiday blues.

NOW, this is the Rictus Nostalgia blog, and we can't let such a beautiful occasion to get those nostalgia senses tingling, can we? So, I did some research and found some of the iconic ads that got my Christmas heart racing 30 years ago. Let's have some fun and look at all these 1994 Christmas wishes (and try no to cry over 30 years of inflation at the same time)

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL THE NOSTALGIA FAMILY!! WE LOVE YOU ALL AND CAN'TE WAIT TO ENJOY 2025 WITH EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU!!!

These are all from the '94 JC Penny Catalogue. Brought back a lot of memories.

Thank you all for joining me on this journey. It's been amazing...and it's only getting started!!

GAME ON!!