A Flannel Christmas

Personal 3 Minutes

One of my earliest memories of Christmas was my mom squealing with delight when she opened the gift from my dad…it was a flannel nightgown. She got one every year.  I couldn’t figure out what the big deal was.  What I didn’t understand back then was how dire their financial situation had always been.  We three kids always had plenty of gifts beneath the tree, but Mom and Dad bought each other only one gift.  She got a flannel nightgown; he got a flannel shirt.

As we grew older, and Dad found better jobs, he kept the tradition of the flannel nightgown, but added jewelry under the tree.  Oh, nothing like diamonds, mind you, but lovely necklaces and rings and even very nice watches. 

During our most recent trip home two months ago, we were cleaning out Mom’s dresser and in one drawer, I found a collection of small boxes.  I brought the drawer over to the bed where she was sitting and her face lit up!  Her jewelry from Dad!  The anticipation on her face as she opened each box was so precious!  And her smile—recalling every piece that Dad had given her—priceless!!  But then, this look of sadness overtook her.  And it hit me…she wouldn’t ever wear any of these pieces again.  Mom wears a Life Alert pendant around her neck, so necklaces might get tangled.  And the rings?  Well, she’s shrunk some over the years…the rings would just slip off and she might lose them.  And although the watches were useful, many were delicate with small faces and she prefers the ones with larger more visible faces.  But we did have fun trying all the jewelry on and playing “Queen”.

From there I pulled out drawer after drawer of clothing that no longer fits, but she never got around to giving away.  We made piles for certain sisters and then a pile for my flea market friend who would sell or donate the rest.  At the very bottom of the last drawer was a very nice box which I pulled out and asked what’s in here??  I saw the same look of sadness come over her face.  “Open it,” she said.  Inside was a beautiful red flannel nightgown.  I took it out of the box and held it in front of me. The top had smocking in white and an empire waist and long sleeves that gathered at the wrist. (similar to the top below)

It was long and way too big for my mom.  She told me it was the last nightgown Dad ever bought for her and she never even got to wear it.  I told her to put it on now at least, over her clothes. “It’s too big and too long for me to wear it now.  Put it in the pile for your friend.”  I saw her wipe tears from her eyes, and told her to at least try it on once if she’s going get rid of it.

She stood and put the gown on.  I walked over and grabbed the sides and said, “gees this is really huge!  You and I could both wear this!”  She laughed and I helped her take it off and into the flea market pile it went.

But I got what I needed in those fleeting moments.  I took the beautiful red nightgown out of the flea market bag before I gave the bag to my friend.  When I got home, I carefully took the nightgown apart and cut each piece down—removing the inches of unnecessary fabric and adding small tucks here and there.  Then I sewed it all back together.  I plan on giving it to her when we visit this month.  I can’t wait to see her face!

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Published by pat frederick

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130 thoughts on “A Flannel Christmas”

  9. “12 Downright Funny Memes You’ll Only Get If You’re From Nebraska”

    “Sometimes you’ve just got to laugh at yourself, right? Especially when you live in a great place like Nebraska. These memes are good-natured ribbing that will tickle the funny bone of any true blue (or should that be true red?) Nebraskan.”

    1. Sometimes a Nebraska winter feels like living on a planet where everything is frozen forever.

    I feel like we haven’t had many of these long winters lately, but I remember winter lasting at least 13 months a year when I was a kid and just wanted to go swimming.

    2. So it’s hailing a little in your state? Haha, try living in Nebraska where we get rain, hail, snow, sleet, flash floods, tornadoes, and thundersnow all in the same week.

    No big deal – we aren’t even fazed by it anymore.

    3. Feeling a little down? Just wait for fall.

    This is the magical time of year when all non-football-related worries fly out of the window and red sweatshirts are the social lubricant we all need to make new friends.

    4. To be fair, there’s constant construction in most of Nebraska…

    …but those detours are insanely annoying when you’re in the middle of an already-frustrating urban commute.

    5. Spring? What’s that?

    Don’t hold your breath, sweetie. We’re just as likely to go from 30 below to 80 degrees in a week as we are to have an actual spring.

    6. Yep, that’s us.

    We can’t argue with this logic. How are you going to see the awesome storms if you’re inside?

    7. This…is wildly accurate.

    Everybody knows about Omaha and Lincoln, but they seem to have some pretty weird ideas about western Nebraska.

    8. This…is less accurate.

    But I have to admit, if I had the chance to do this I’d be at the top of that pile in a second!

    9. Haha, yeah.

    Our crazy weather keeps things interesting! Right?

    10. It’s better than cow tipping! Kind of?

    Before you get offended by this, just remember that there’s at least one person in your life who definitely did/would do this when drunk enough.

    11. When you’ve lived here long enough, you just get used to the snow.

    In fact, a year without heavy snows starts to feel downright weird.

    12. This isn’t exclusive to Nebraska, but you’d better know the difference if you live here.

    This is Living In Nebraska 101, folks. We live in the greatest state in the nation, and we happen to have pretty great senses of humor to show for it.”

    Liked by 1 person

  11. These politicians speaking out of both sides of their mouths! Ro Khanna – the dem who objected to censoring the NY Post article – says on the one hand he is concerned about the 1st Amendment and our Constitution and everyone should have freedom of speech, then turns around and says but we don’t want to allow people to spew hate, like anti-semitism and racism…..you cannot split the baby, asshole! What goes for one group MUST apply to ALL groups!!! OK, they’re anti-semites and racists – that is THEIR choice, not yours!!!!

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  13. I’m getting pretty sick and tired of JD Rucker, tbh. He’s always “concerned” about something that the entire MAGA contingent is celebrating! No, asshole, it is NOT a “distraction!” What, you don’t think we can pay attention to more than one thing at a time??? Jitbag!!!! Many of us are keeping an eye on ALL of it!!!

    “With that said, I want to point out the other side of the coin. As big as this story is, it’s actually a distraction. Before the Twitter Files, we knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Big Tech has been working against us. Now that the Twitter Files are being released, we have confirmation. We’re learning a bit about how it all works and that can definitely help us prevent other current and future narrative control operations in and out of Twitter. But I am a bit concerned that the story is getting too much attention from the right even as it’s getting zero attention from the left.

    Some would argue that we need to balance the left’s silence by broadcasting the truth more loudly. I generally agree, but there’s a risk that the story will linger, expand, and continue to overshadow the direct threats we face. While we talk about Michelle Obama prompting Twitter to ban Donald Trump, we’re NOT talking about the coming food shortages. While we’re exposing Yoel Roth as both a creep and a totalitarian censor, we’re NOT exposing the massive, widespread voter fraud that affected dozens of elections just last month. And while we’re keeping our eyes on Elon Musk, we’re not keeping our eyes on Joe Biden, Klaus Schwab, or any of the globalist elites who are feverishly working on their depopulation and control agenda.”

    I refuse to post his link! But here is the article he is forwarding:

    The Twitter Files: The Corporate Media Ignores The Biggest Story Of The Decade
    BY TYLER DURDEN
    SUNDAY, DEC 11, 2022 – 02:00 PM
    EXCERPT: “The biggest story of the past decade is not the covid pandemic, the January 6th protests, the war in Ukraine, the BLM riots, or even the stagflationary crisis in the US. Behind these major events is another story, one that connects them all together in a disturbing way. Even more important than the effects of geopolitical and economic chaos is the effect of mass censorship; without the free exchange of information and debate the public remains ignorant. And if the public remains ignorant, crisis events have an increasing potential to explode.

    Public perception of national and international affairs is a key determinant of the outcome of disasters and conflicts. This is why governments and elitists from around the world often seek to manipulate the ways in which people digest information. The idea is rather simple – They believe that ‘we the people’ cannot be allowed to come to our own conclusions. They think we cannot be trusted to develop the “proper” viewpoints and we are not smart enough to understand the implications of governmental decisions.

    In other words, they believe the exact opposite of what is outlined in the US Constitution. The establishment will give numerous reasons why they need to censor, suppress, spin and misrepresent the facts of any given situation, but in the end the real rationale is that they have a vision for society that is contrary to our foundations. They have appointed themselves the arbiters of reality to see that vision done. As Edward Bernays, the “father of pubic relations” once stated in his book ‘Propaganda’:

    “The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. …We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society. …In almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons…who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind.”

    More: https://www.zerohedge.com/political/twitter-files-corporate-media-ignores-biggest-story-decade

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    1. This is a great article – I highly recommend it!

      “The exposure of Twitter is the biggest story of the decade because it provides proof of a hidden cabal. It shows the ugly mechanics behind the scenes and exposes a network of elites and their errand boys who were involved in direct operations to destroy the 1st Amendment for the sake of ideological supremacy.

      It’s the classic definition of fascism, a definition that Benito Mussolini reiterated when he argued: “Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power.”

      And, if this brand of Fascism was happening within the halls of Twitter, then there is little doubt it is also happening at companies like Google/YouTube, Apple, Facebook, etc. Before we had evidence, now we have confirmation.

      The corporate media argues over relevance instead of morality because they benefited from the censorship. It’s important to remember that one of the first measures Big Tech companies applied after suppressing the alternative media during the pandemic was to then amplify the corporate media. These companies are floundering with dismal audience numbers and dwindling profits. No one listens to them anymore. Yet, as long as they promote the establishment narrative their opinions and disinformation are given priority on nearly every search engine and social media platform.”

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  17. I am adding a short daily prayer to the board. I would invite each of you, if you wish, to also add one or maybe two of your own liking. I do not want to stifle anyone but please limit yourself to one or two religious postings. here’s one I found that I liked.

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