A gift from long ago
Every Christmas season, we look back and reflect on Christmas memories, back to a time when our lives didn’t seem to be so hectic.
We didn’t have malls and we shopped in downtown Washington, which came alive during the holidays.
The stores were open until 9 p.m. every day, and they were even open on Sunday.
A special part of my memories includes school. Back then, we had grade schools in Washington.
We walked to school and went home for lunch.
I attended the First Ward Grade School. When I was in grades 5 through 7, I had a music teacher named Martha Ealy, who also taught history.
It was her music class I remember most.
In October, we would start rehearsing Christmas music. We sang some familiar carols and some that weren’t so familiar. We did a rendition of “The Night Before Christmas,” which was very outstanding. Ealy put a great deal of effort into this program every year, and made it fun for us.
When we were ready for the big day, which was called “hall assembly,” we invited our parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. This was Ealy’s gift to us and, in turn, our gift to our parents and other relatives.
Joyce Paletta
Washington