Holiday Tradition: Stockings

For as long as I can remember, my family has taken much care in the Christmas stocking. Some years my mother would crochet multi-colored socks from balls of yarn. They were nicer and more creative than the store bought ones. Many years our mantle included stockings for my grandmother and uncle.

My dad, with his sense of humor, would buy some sort of sock for my uncle and grandmother. One year I remember this pair of knee high socks that were red, white and very ugly. I still can’t imagine what type of woman would wear such a pair of foot and leg covering. I can remember waking up on Christmas morning seeing the seven stockings that we, as a family, had hung up on the fireplace for Santa to fill. The homemade stockings, with their traditional shape, were filled to the brim with fruit, candy, and small gifts. The ugly red and white stockings had the same items packed into them but the stretchy material makes these socks drag on the floor. The items inside were strategically placed so that, with a little imagination, looked like legs… legs of a older woman who suffered from the worst case of varicose veins imaginable.

The tribute to stockings in my childhood is continued on even to this day.