Have you ever wondered what a writer's early years were like and how it affected their future writing and the stories they would tell later in their lives? Have you ever wondered what their childhood Christmases, their early holiday memories, were like? Well, wonder no longer. This biographical memoir is about one of my most cherished childhood Christmases…in 1959 when I was nine years old. After my beloved musician/singer/songwriter brother Jim passed away in 2015 from cancer I felt an intense need to write this short story about that special Christmas Eve I shared with him, my other siblings, mother, father and grandparents, and put it out there for everyone to read as a tribute to him and my family. This is my memory, part of my childhood, and some of my fondest recollections. Note: in the late 1970's I did a series of illustrated (by me, because I'm an artist, too) short stories for my local newspaper and I've used one of my old drawings from 1978 for the first page of this short story. (Note: THIS IS NOT A FICTIONAL SHORT STORY BUT A NONFICTIONAL MEMOIR.)
