Joey Dee’s Christmas Memories #9: Christmas Socks

This time of year is always nostalgic for me, even more so this year because it will be the first year that I have not been home for Christmas ever. So... since I won't be around my family to reminisce of days gone by, I thought I'd share a few of my favorite Christmas memories with my radio family.

My oldest brother Josh was always the biggest of the goofballs of a very goofy family. For as long as I can remember, he always loved to play pranks on me as the youngest of the 5 boys of our family.

Every year, like clockwork, all of us would get socks for Christmas. I think it was my mothers way of making sure we always had proper socks through the year. It was always easy to pick out which gift was the socks, as it was typically the one shaped like a pillow and not boxed. I, like most of my brothers and sisters, made sure to open those first (you know... so we could move on to the "good" presents), but not Josh. He would make sure to set those aside to open last. After everyone was done opening their respective packages, we'd all turn to Josh. He would be sitting patiently in his corner of the living room, waiting to open what he called his favorite gift every year. He would tear into that wrapping paper with the ferocity of a young child to get to the gift inside, plain white tube socks. Once opened, he'd scream "JUST WHAT I WANTED!!!" and claw his way into the bad to get a new pair out and put them on.

When I was young, I always thought he was crazy for thinking that was his best gift. I guess you just don't think about Christmas the same way when you're young. As I got older, I just thought he was being a goofball like the rest of us. Now that I've grown, I think about what he did a totally different way.

This time of year, we all get caught up in the material things in our life. We worry if our gift to our friends and family is going to be good enough, and spend extreme amounts of money to make sure we get the best.

Remembering Josh, and his Christmas socks, always reminds me that this time of year isn't about what, or how much, you get those you love. It's about spending time with those you love, and showing them that you are thinking about them and appreciate what they do for you. You never know when the last time is you're going to say that to them, so do it often.

And take time to remember the fond memories of Christmases past.
Joey Dee's Christmas Memories #8: The First Christmas with my Wife