Christmas 1954

Surprise Best Christmas Ever

I have been very fortunate in that all my Christmases have been happy ones with the two exceptions on the years that I lost a loved one close to Christmas.   I’ll never forget the Christmas Eve December 24, 1954.  More than a year had passed since we sold all our earthly belongings and moved to a border town in Baja California.  The move was timed because my parents were advised that all our legal efforts to immigrate to United States was about to come to fruition. 

Between legal costs, travel, housing, food and a few other living expenses, not to mention continuing legal expenses; our finances ran short before we were able to cross to the US of A.  We had been living like we were on holiday, but due to money concerns my father decided to take on a job.  Christmas was fast approaching and no job in sight.  Due to the tight money situation, we began tightening the budget, even for food.  My parents were very proud and didn’t want to bother relatives for help.

By the time Christmas Eve arrived we were happy and healthy, even well fed but no gifts were in sight, and while Christmas was always wonderful, only a miracle could save this one.  Soon after dinner, my mother announced that it was time to go to bed.  It was a dry cold winter day, and the idea of being under the covers sounded like a good idea to me.  I never said anything to my parents, but I just couldn’t understand why we couldn’t have some presents to open.  Our family was not rich, but we were never broke enough that we couldn’t celebrate a nice Christmas.

I could still hear my parents talking as I eventually closed my eyes and fell asleep.  My sister Dolores was close by and she had also fallen asleep.  I don’t remember how much time went by, but I was awakened by a loud knock on the door, and my father was awakened from a deep sleep but ran to answer the knocks at the door that seemed to have some urgency behind them.  My first thought was that it must be Santa Claus who finally realized that he accidentally missed our house, and since we didn’t have a fireplace he decided to knock (keep in mind that I was 7 years old).

As the door was opened I could hear some happy conversation going on, so I decided to get out of bed and join my father at the door.  To my surprise, the person standing there was a man that I came to equate with someone as good and kind as Santa Claus himself.  It was my Tio (uncle) Ramon, he was my father’s brother, who lived in Salinas California, and was helping our immigration process from the US side, with attorneys from the North side of the border.

My uncle and his family were visiting in Los Angeles with close family members on his wife’s side, and couldn’t get our family out of his mind, so he went shopping and drove 250 miles one way to deliver (literally) a car load of Christmas gifts for everyone in my family.  He could only visit for a couple of hours because he had to get back home to his own family in time to open gifts on Christmas day.  Besides some very special toys that I still remember, he brought clothes, and blankets, food, candy, and he gave my father and mother some money that my father only accepted as a loan.

As part of the conversation, he shared with my father that he had to bribe a border guard on the Mexican side to bring the toys across the border, but that it was worth it.  The memorable toys that I still remember getting were, a police patrol car with working lights on top, and headlights and a siren operated by batteries and controlled in a small box from a wired lead about 3 feet long (he also brought extra batteries).  I also got an electric HO scale train with tracks, station, crossings and all.  My sister Dolores got a couple of large dolls, a couple of dish sets, clothes, and shoes.  My uncle owned a very successful construction company, and loved family.

On September of 1955 we finally (legally) crossed the border, and headed to our first home in Salinas, California.  The best is yet to come....