Closer to Memory

The first house I lived in is still my favorite house to this day. I lived in Midland, TX. One of the strongest memories I have from that house is one Christmas morning. I think I was around the age of nine or ten years of age this particular Christmas. Outside the temperature was not extremely cold but there was a chill in the air. Of course, since it was West Texas it was another brown Christmas. I can still smell the aroma of my dad’s freshly brewed coffee. I can see the living room as if I was there just yesterday. We had two brown, large rocker-recliner chairs and a couch that was multi-colored. It was a very homey and comfortable living room. We had the Christmas tree positioned in the corner of the living room between the couch and one of the recliners. I was sitting at the end of the couch closest to the Christmas tree when my mom handed me my next present to open. I ripped through the package as fast as I could. It was exactly what I had wanted, a Cabbage Patch Doll. Now, getting a Cabbage Patch at that time was like getting the big demand toys of this year. To top of my excitement my mom told me that she had to drive “all the way to Odessa” to get the doll. To a nine-year-old Odessa was like going half way around the world to get a doll, when in actuality it was a 30-minute drive. I felt so special when I opened the present. I can still smell the scent that a new doll has when you first take them out of the package.