Donna Ulisse

#3...Christmas Hiding Places!

Mother and Dad had a very mysterious bedroom in that it had a closet that we were never allowed in. This is when "The Twilight" theme can be heard faintly in the background. Hmmm.... very tempting to a little kid with nothing to do one afternoon. Without my usual co-conspirators, brothers Jimmy, Mark and Chris, I tiptoed into the forbidden closet and did some harmless snooping. I never dreamed what I'd find because I really wasn't looking for anything but lo and behold, there was a little door; I mean a tiny, little door at the bottom of the left hand side of the closet just begging for me to walk inside. Why, it was a bit like Alice in Wonderland and absolutely irresistible. Yes folks, I went in and OH MY GOODNESS! There were all kinds of boxes and toys laid out. There was a Mrs. Beasley doll, there were Barbies and Barbie clothes. There was a dollhouse and a real record player in a red suitcase with records in their packages sitting right beside it. This was too much, too much! I was completely overjoyed to find this in our house. I wondered if my mom and dad could have known that this room was here IN OUR HOUSE! I did what every kid across the world would do; I sat down and played with everything. I was so lost in my new found treasure that I never heard footsteps coming up behind me, only the sound of my mothers voice about four octaves lower than I've ever heard it saying "What are you doing in here?" I don't know why I still have skin covering my bones to this day because I jumped completely out of it when she spoke. I said, "Momma, look at all of this stuff! Can you believe it's here in our house?" Quick as a whistle, never missing a beat, mom said "Donna, you are about to ruin Christmas for your cousin Ann Carol because her parents asked me to hide her gifts up here and now you've opened them and played with them. What will I tell them now?" I was so ashamed. I felt so bad to have wrecked all the packaging. I loved my cousin Ann Carol and surely didn't want her Christmas ruined. See, mom was smart; she confused me so much that I even forgot to have regret that they weren't my toys. I left through the little door with my head hanging low and swore to mother that I would never enter the strange room that I now know is called an attic, ever again. In fact I still don't like attics, they scare me and my mother's voice is still what I hear when I approach one although these days, just to make it more interesting I picture her voice sounding like Darth Vader and then I'm totally freaked.

After I left "toyland" I thought about nothing else but those toys throughout the rest of December. Santa must have heard my thoughts because he graciously left me the very same ones on Christmas morning. I was in shock! There was the dollhouse, Mrs. Beasley, the Barbies and the most wonderful invention for an up and coming music lover, a record player with records. Can you believe my luck? I remember telling my parents as I was running around in circles that Ann Carol was never going to believe that I got the same gifts she was getting. As I think back on it there was a great sigh of relief that left my mother's body. I just thought she was tired because the brothers woke everyone up before the sun including me. It was a very good Christmas morning for all of us!