The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
The Forum - On Line Opinion's article discussion area



Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

Main Articles General

Sign In      Register

The Forum > General Discussion > Christmas - What fantastic memories do each of us have of Christmas ?

Christmas - What fantastic memories do each of us have of Christmas ?

  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. All
Well after a week of nothing but horrific headlines, we have Christmas rapidly approaching, in fact just six short days away ? It's for this reason, I got to wondering what fantastic memories do each of us have, of this very special day ?

Like most, my recollections of Christmas, particularly during my childhood, and later my formative years, were easily my fondest memories. Our family always insisted in having a real Christmas tree, and I believe it somehow added that lovely touch to that special day itself. The fresh odour of pine, that seem to permeate right throughout the front of our house was nice too.

Being kids all of us seemed to get far more presents then the adult members of the household, and as I grew up I realised my parents and grandparents sacrificed their gifts, so us kids got the lion share. And in my later life this tradition was naturally continued with our kids and grandkids.

The awful realisation that Mr Santa CLAUS was merely a myth, shattered me (initially) until I realised the existence of Santa, or not, was quite immaterial, as it was our family that counted, and my illusions of the whole concept of the meaning of Christmas, seemed once more to be restored.

Christmas 1964 I was in Malaysia, at Ft. Tapong, on the Malay/Thai border region, in primary jungle. The heat and humidity...almost unbearable ! In 1969 I was at Vung Tau, 1st. Field Hospital, South Vietnam. Thereafter as a copper, I usually worked a shift on Christmas Day, the money was exceptionally good (Double time and a half, plus a day in lieu) and generally speaking the day proved relatively quiet ? Nevertheless still I missed the family dreadfully.

Christmas has always been a special day, as 'corny' as it may sound. It means family, laughter, overeating, the Boxing Day Test, and years back, watching the Davis Cup between the USA and Oz etc. ?

I hope each and everyone of you, has a happy, joyous and truly restful Christmas Day with all your loved ones !
Posted by o sung wu, Friday, 19 December 2014 8:49:57 PM
Find out more about this user Visit this user's webpage Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Oh well it seems this lighter, much happier topic I've introduced here, has not been well received ? I understand perfectly. Seeing that damnable epithet 'O SUNG WU' at the foot of the page does wear a little thin after awhile ?

Well all that remains for me to say; I hope you all, everyone of you, without exception, have a really brilliant Christmas, and a healthy, and much safer 2015 ! Thank you too, to all those kind enough to engage me, in the many and varied topics, under discussion herein. I thoroughly enjoyed them.

And not forgetting our very own, Graham YOUNG and his superb team of helpers. Best wishes to you and yours, and thank you all for providing us with this marvellous vehicle in which we can all so freely articulate our many and varied opinions herein; without fearing the many secret squirrels coming after us !
Posted by o sung wu, Monday, 22 December 2014 8:48:02 PM
Find out more about this user Visit this user's webpage Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Hi o sung wu, I have one that was a bit of fun.

Many years ago as a young racing driver, I won the Australian Racing Drivers Club Christmas raffle. The prize was a 9Ft high cardboard Christmas stocking, with a mesh see through front, filled with at least a couple of hundred small mostly novelty type toys, all meant for little, 1 to 10 or so, kids.

I didn't even know anyone with kids, so I went looking for an orphanage or similar to give it to. I wanted it to be one with suitable aged kids for the stocking's contents.

I rang a few, asking about the kids they took care of, without telling them why, & a couple became suspicious of my motives. However it worked & I found Barnardo's Homes in Sydney had lots of little kids.

The manager lady was amazed at the thing. She sent me a few photo's of about 30 little kids gathered around the thing, then getting the presents.

That is what Christmas is about.

I did get letters from her for about 4 years, asking if I could give another stocking. Obviously she had no idea how much it cost to run a Brabham in the 60s.

It was the best five bob Christmas present I ever gave anyone.
Posted by Hasbeen, Monday, 22 December 2014 9:52:20 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Dear O Sung Wu,

My computer has been out of commission for a couple
of days and has just now been repaired - otherwise
I would have contributed to your discussion much
earlier. Anyway, here goes:

The most moving Christmas that made quite an impact on
me was a Christmas lunch that was shared with elderly
members of a nursing home in which a relative resided.
The lunch was a traditional Christmas lunch - and very
enjoyable - however, it was the singing of Christmas
Carols after the lunch that brought a lump to my throat
and quite a few tears as I watched the looks on the faces
of the participants singing the traditional carols with
such gusto. I could only imagine the memories that they
recalled. A very moving afternoon - that left my husband
and me feeling very warm and happy.
Posted by Foxy, Tuesday, 23 December 2014 1:09:16 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
G'day there HASBEEN...

And I sincerely hope you and your family have a really happy Christmas, as well as a very healthy 2015 ! Actually, I thought this Topic looked like falling flat on it's proverbial face, until you at least fronted up HASBEEN ?

Never mind ? You're right I get most of my happiness too, by giving, rather than receiving. At my age, I'm fortunate enough to have no particular 'want's', therefore the delight I get is by seeing the smile and joy people have on their faces when I give them a present !

My dear wife is always a happy recipient, even if the gift I give her, is not exactly to her liking, nevertheless she still makes a fuss over it ! I could only imagine the buzz you would've received, having given that enormous Christmas stocking to those underprivileged and impoverished kids at Barnardo's Homes, in Sydney.

As you say, that's the real delight most of us get, by the very act of 'giving' rather than 'receiving'. And Christmas is precisely the right time, to exercise this personal aspiration thingo of 'giving' I reckon.

On another note - you must've been a hell of a driver to participate in competitive race driving ? The only stuff I did, as I said to you earlier, was the standard 'pursuit driver's' course at ST Ives, in Sydney ? We trained on the old Ford Falcon 5.8, V8's, with later conversions to the Cooper S. Of course competitive car racing is a whole different ball game, then the basic stuff that we did.

What type of M/V or classification or engine limitation did you compete ? I understand when you say the enormous costs associated with trying to even prepare a race car ? And without those ever important endorsements or sponsorships on board, it would severely hamper your philanthropic wishes I believe ? I'm positive it would quickly gobble up all your available resources to even keep the car at a 'race ready' standard ?

See you mate !
Posted by o sung wu, Tuesday, 23 December 2014 1:19:03 PM
Find out more about this user Visit this user's webpage Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Hello there FOXY...

Gee that's fortuitous, I was about to enquire of HASBEEN as to whether he'd heard from you or not. I do hope you and your husband have been well ?

Homes for the aged ? What sad irrevocable residencies for many of our beloved elderly people ? Some shunned by their families, others simply no longer wanted by their families, while others don't have a family ? The only common denominator with most, is their enduring memories of times past ? Just looking into their faces, with their faraway gaze, one can only wonder what it is they're thinking about ?

Most of their thoughts are perhaps; precipitated by a colour, a musically sound, even an odour emanating from their kitchens, still perhaps nothing at all, who'd really know ? Yet we see them quietly staring out the window musing, blissfully unaware that we're watching - even intruding upon their most private of thoughts ?

I guess it's for this reason they sing with such alacrity, and such joyfulness, as the more traditional Christmas carols do rekindle pleasant memories of Christmas's past, when their whole family gleefully assembled together and took part in Christmas festivities.

I will admit to you FOXY, I'm very protective of the aged ! Because when I was younger, my level of patience and tolerance for the elderly was quite shameful, so much so, any unhappiness I might receive now that I'm my own mid-seventies, I richly deserve !
Posted by o sung wu, Tuesday, 23 December 2014 2:00:49 PM
Find out more about this user Visit this user's webpage Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Hi, o sung. Motor racing was a gentleman's sport in my day. Nothing so crude as advertising on cars, so no sponsorship either. We paid all our own costs, unless we became very big time

I started in sports cars, but decided it did not make sense to have a lot of expensive damageable body work on a race car.

I bought a Lotus 20, formula junior open wheeler, then moved to a Brabham formula 2.

My team were pretty good mechanically, so it didn't break, & as I didn't run into things it was not as expensive as it could have been. We upgraded an old car & built the engine for it ourselves.

It was twice voted the most reliable racing car in Oz, by the professional racing mechanics club, a bit of an admission. We three were amateurs, a plastics engineer, a white goods designer, & a sales tax investigator. Not exactly what you would expect. It also won it's class in every race it started for a 20 month period, so prize money actually paid for the tyres, & an oil company gave me all my fuel & lubricants.

I ultimately was given a Formula 1 drive by a top team, & took second in our championships, the gold star. I also drove for General Motors, Holden dealers team, & Ford, before going sailing.

To indicate how it was, my second at Bathurst in the original Holden Monaro earned me $50.00. It was not exactly a lucrative activity.

Everything in life comes at a cost. I got to the stage where the time & effort involved in racing was not returned in the pleasure I got from it. Actually I guess the fun went out of it.

I got to the stage where spending 4 or 5 nights most weeks working on a car was no longer much fun, even with good friends for company, so stopped. I had nothing left to prove to myself, & the thought of the south sea islands became irresistible.
Posted by Hasbeen, Tuesday, 23 December 2014 2:32:40 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
HASBEEN...

A more fulfilling or accomplishing life you could not have wished for, albeit with that mysterious seductive lure of the sea, indelibly trying to entice you away from the smell of gasoline and the screaming pitch of performance tyres ? How on earth did you find the time to raise a family, and successfully engage in rural pursuits !

Interestingly much of your motor racing success relied essentially on the efforts of a plastics engineer, a white goods designer and a sales tax investigator - with the total absence of an 'academic' ? There are some here on the FORUM, who might not appreciate you failing to seek appropriate academic guidance, in the formative years of your racing career ?

Whereas myself in contrast, served in the Army and the police force, with a smattering of casual jobs, throughout that time ?

A Repatriation Doctor (Psychologist) casually, but kindly observed '...you've never held a real job as such, have you, other then your Army service, and as a policeman...'? 'Spluttering' in my own defence '...what about the casual, part-time stuff I'd done while in the coppers...' ? She dismissed this with a wave of her hand, saying something to the effect, she meant a career, something productive, rather than as a 'protected' functionary within the aegis of the Defence Department and NSW government ? This kind lady was helping me with some of my 'adjustment' difficulties, post my retirement. She was on my side, eh ?!

Reluctantly I saw her point, she wasn't dismissive of my two occupations, rather I'd no real experience in the outside, commercial market place ? And in hindsight I realise she was quite right with her summation ? Compared to you HASBEEN...well it doesn't matter really, comparisons are odious, and at 75 with the clock ticking it's the least of my worries I suppose.

You've had a very full, satisfying life by all accounts HASBEEN, and so have I (I think?). Anyway, I've no real regrets concerning my own vocational choices. And I guess, neither have you ?

Take it easy ol' man !
Posted by o sung wu, Tuesday, 23 December 2014 4:45:45 PM
Find out more about this user Visit this user's webpage Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. All

About Us :: Search :: Discuss :: Feedback :: Legals :: Privacy