Sixty-Something: More Memories of Christmas

Many folks have favorite Christmas ornaments. Some of my favorites are my various East End lighthouse tree ornaments. I bought them ten years ago from a small company that specializes in Christmas lighthouse ornaments. I purchased miniature figurines of Bug Lighthouse, Orient Point Lighthouse, Montauk Lighthouse, Block Island Lighthouse, and a Plum Island one too! You can’t live on the East End of Long Island and not have a favorite lighthouse.

They all have amazing histories going back to a time when maritime trade was most important to the economy and commerce of the area. These lighthouse ornaments hang around our Christmas tree and kitchen. I witnessed the preparation and then inaugural lighting of the Montauk Lighthouse over a decade ago. I would walk my dog at Camp Hero along those beautiful eroding bluffs and watch the crew administer the lights all over the Montauk Lighthouse. No one had a clue how dazzling it would look. The crowded initial fanfare and ceremony included families with excited children and notable older locals alike. Then the lights were turned on, and believe me, it was stunning that first time the lighthouse was lit up. It was like a Hallmark Movie. Afterwards, a nightlong unorganized procession of folks in their cars drove by for hours. If you haven’t done it, you should. I do it every year.

The Montauk Lighthouse Christmas lighting is a special gift to the community. I remember the first gift I ever purchased for Christmas and then wrapped. It was a figurine of a noble Frenchwoman that I bought for my mother at John’s Bargain Store located at Westchester Square in the Bronx, very close to my grandparents’ home on Herschel Street. My mother gave my sister some money to take me Christmas shopping. I was very young, I believe four about to be five, as my birthday is just a few days before Christmas. My mother kept it and gave it to me and my wife before she passed away. We display it all year round in a prominent place in our home.

Now, 66 years later, I haven’t ever gone a Christmas season without purchasing and wrapping gifts. Ironically, the last year before my mother passed, I bought her an expensive bathrobe from Kelly’s Smith store in East Hampton Village. She wore it constantly her final year before surrendering to her ten-year battle with lung cancer. I assisted in wrapping that gift myself at the store.

Being taught to wrap the gifts was a process my older sister taught me. Believe me, that first attempt with that figurine for my mother used way too much Scotch tape. However, over the years, I perfected a technique that used only four or five small pieces of tape, and I still pride myself on not wasting Christmas wrapping paper.

There is something special in seeing the family Christmas tree with all the gifts wrapped and neatly piled under the tree with those little cards attached saying to whom from whom. The excitement of watching young children tear up that paper and rejoice in the surprise of their Christmas gifts is something parents never forget. Giving is a tradition of Christmas for centuries.

It is in that spirit that I always make sure I donate some canned food to those collecting for the underserved at the supermarkets. I usually buy a few cans of vegetarian chili solely for the purpose of gifting them. Cindi, my wife, personally likes to tip our local garbage men for the great job they do all year round. I learned something years ago about tipping. I know, besides the financial reward aspect, tipping is also a sign of respect to those performing the service.

My wife and I still send out personal photo Christmas cards. Yes, I confess I enjoy picking a photo and designing the cards. Cindi, my wife, does the actual sending from her list of those who send them to us. As the days to Christmas tick away for 2023, remember to get to the Montauk Lighthouse to see the lights and to remember it is always better to give than receive, not just at Christmas time, but all year round.