Christmas 1998 - Ornament

As kids, Sam, Pete and I alway got a Christmas ornament in our shoes for St. Nicholas Day. St. Nicholas Day falls on December 6th so on December 5th, just before bedtime, we'd always leave one of our shoes in the dining room. Good St. Nick always left an ornament. By the time I left home in 1990 I had quite a collection. Mom continued to buy us ornaments from time to time after we left home but we'd get them for Christmas presents and not on St. Nicholas Day. The ornament shown is based on a design by Frank Lloyd Wright. On the box I wrote "1998" so that's the year Mom gave it to me for Christmas. I have lots of other ornaments from her where I didn't note what year it came from so I'm not sure why I did for this particular ornament. Anyway, I hang it on my tree every year and I like how it picks up the light from the tree lights.

Christmas 1998 - Christmas Cash

Grandma Alice sent money in these Christmas card "wallets" similar to the one shown here every year. The portrait of the president on the money would appear through the oval at the bottom of the card. Only her name (and not Grandpa Louis's) is signed on this card. Grandpa died in 1997 and Grandma Alice's last Christmas was 1999, so this one is probably from 1998. I remember when I was much younger Sam and I would walk to the bank on Nicollet Avenue to deposit our money that we had received from our grandparents. One year shortly after Christmas Day I remember the bank teller told me that she was impressed how many kids were coming in to deposit what was obviously their Christmas cash.