The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

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Treasured Christmas memories from Southeast Missourians

Debbie Spease

Amanda Flinn

What is your favorite Christmas memory?

“I had always wanted to go on a real sleigh ride. One year while we were in Wisconsin, my husband took us out to the stables and rented the horses and sleigh for a private ride through the snow. It was magical. After the ride, we had hot cocoa by the fireplace. All three kids were with us, and it was just really special.”

— Debbie Spease

Raymond Essner

Amanda Flinn

What is the best Christmas gift you have ever received?

“When I was 12 years old, I got a steel runner sled for Christmas. It still had a price sticker on it in the amount of $1.49. Now days, sleds like this cost at least $25. The only problem was that it didn’t snow for almost two years! Finally we got slick ice, and did this thing go!”

— Raymond Essner

Pat Boyd

Amanda Flinn

What Christmas traditions do you remember from your childhood?

“When I was a kid, we always had a real tree. On average, they cost $2 to $3 apiece, but my dad never wanted to pay more than $1, so he had to look and look for one with a bad side. My mom had a different rule. She wanted the tree to touch the ceiling. We put the tree up two weeks before Christmas and took it down two weeks after.”

— Pat Boyd

Shelby Shell

Amanda Flinn

How do you celebrate Christmas?

“My husband was career military. If we were overseas during Christmas, we always had family dinner at our home and invited all the single men in the unit to help remind the young men of home. Now that I’m retired, I try to find someone that I think needs a little boost and spend money on them, rather than on my family that doesn’t need it.”

—Shelby Shell