A Christmas Curse?

People give you many greetings this time of year. Usually, they're good...like "Have a Merry Christmas", "Happy New Year", "Happy Holidays", "Season's Best", etc. But back in the Christmas of 1952, someone must have told my parents, "A Pox on You!".

That was the year that all 3 of us children had the chicken pox. My older sister, Karen, was just getting over them...so she was doing pretty well. I was sporting a full-blown case of them and my brother, Chuck, was just starting to show little signs of breaking out. My mother told me I even had them in my scalp, so she couldn't comb my hair. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Mom seemed to take it pretty well, but I know she was disappointed. Especially because she had paid a woman to make matching dresses for my sister and me. I remember the dresses well. They were light pink...and very scratchy. They also had the most wonderful, soft purple velvet vest-style jackets that went over them and closed at the waist. Even with all the scratching -- from the dress and the pox -- I remember thinking they were quite special. Karen was 9 and I was 5 that year.

Fast forward 27 years to 1979. I remembered those dresses so well that I surprised my mom by making them for my girls...then ages 8 and 5. The dresses were made of softer material and I didn't put the purple piping on the collars and sleeves, but they were definitely very close to the originals and it really surprised and delighted my mom to see them walk in wearing them.

Boy....how time flies. Now my granddaughter will be 7 years old tomorrow.

Oh...and by the way...yes, I've had my shingles vaccination!