Christ(mas) is coming!
Across from the circle at the end of Main Street was the home of a fast food place called Jester’s.
My sister Sue and I would stop there on our way home from our yearly Christmas gift buying pilgrimage to the plaza.
At some point we had decided that pooling our money and shopping together for one gift for each person was preferable to them each getting two cheaper gifts.
Teenage logic.
So we’d shop, go to Jester’s for a burger and fries–a rare treat for us back then–and when we finished, we’d grab our bags of loot and head down Main Street.
For some reason, after all the anticipation, the walking to the plaza in the snow, all the picking out of the gifts, and then hoping we had set enough aside so we could eat (and warm up), everything just felt so light-hearted and funny.
What could be better than being fourteen walking home down Main Street at night with your fifteen year old sister like two drunken sailors on shore leave in the middle of a Buffalo winter?
Not a new car from the Lexus December to Remember Sales Event, that’s for sure.
Cyber Monday has never offered anything that good to my recollection.
No Black Friday deal can compete..
In fact, back then, the day after Thanksgiving was time spent together nibbling on leftover pumpkin pie, no one was playing Christmas music before Halloween, and there was no pressure to keep up with the Joneses by getting your spouse a new car.
We weren’t trying to out-class or out-shop anyone.
We weren’t trying to keep up appearances.
We were simply buying a small token of our love for those we loved the most.
My mom always made a small fruitcake for Jesus’s birthday cake, and on Christmas, we each ate a piece.
I think it was to remind us that it was Jesus’s birthday we were celebrating, not ours.
For God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
John 3:16 KJV
Actually, we already got the best gift ever.
~~~
Wishing you all a joyous Christmas season full of love and friendship. I’ll be back in 2020 refreshed and raring to go! Thank you for coming on this journey with me, I love you all! ❤️ ❤️ ❤️
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I want to go to Jesters! It sounds like a great memory. When Marcie and I were 14 we walked to Red Barn, I believe that was in the circle during our young teenage years.
This is Mary Ellen not Madison – hehehe, stupid auto fill
I kinda figured! ❤️
Yup, the Red Barn was on the circle in its time and we had a great time there. I’m glad you and Marcie have good circle memories!
Love and friendship – that’s the way it ought to be all over the world! Thank you, Carol for sharing your thoughts. I wish you and all the family a very loving and thankful christmas time, too. Blyb
Hi Heiner!
Oh, Heiner! Love and friendship all over the world-wouldn’t that be the best Christmas gift ever?
Thanks for the Christmas wishes and for being in my life. Hugs and kisses all around for you and your beautiful family! ❤️
Thanks for the reminder about Baby Jesus’s birthday cake! I hadn’t thought about that in years. And, while I loved the Jesters experience…it was memories of “the Host” and the Trini Lopez record that stick with me. Same love filled memories with the added risk of Mom finding out we were at Your Host! Love and blessings to all this Christmas season and on into the New Year.
Oh, that Trini Lopez! What a hoot! I loved the booths at Your Host with the table jukebox selectors, and you had to order at least fifty cents worth of food to sit in a booth instead of at the counter. Good times, noodle salad! I hope the months ahead bring you all good things (many blessings!) Love you…❤️
“When the hungrys hit, when the hungrys hit, hit
the Red Barn!” Yes, the Red Barn was where Burger King is, or was. It closed while I was living with Papa. This brings back so many heartfelt memories. I really do wish that the whole world could be like it was growing up on Walnut Street.
Memories for me, too.
❤️❤️❤️
Oh to be a kid again! Main Street just aint what it used to be. Friday night sitting in the Shell station with friends, cruising Main street, drag racing on Knox road. Now-a-days you would get a trespassing charge from Shell, thrown in jail for drag racing…… between the thousand dollar fine and 500 hours community service.. being a kid now sure isn’t as fun as it was in the 60’s. Just sayin
Kids today will never know the joys of the time and place we grew up in. Sad…
This is beautiful. Reminds me of my small town. My little places to shop was Gray Jewelry and Rupe’s Variety Store, a 5 and dime.
Weren’t 5 and dimes fabulous? Jester’s sounds wonderful. Our little eatery in Blakely, GA, south GA, was Smitty’s Grill, a long counter with bar stools run by Mr. Forrest and Miss Edna Williams. The best burgers in town made on an open grill. Smitty’s is still operational today, with many different owners over the years, but with the same long counter and with the same bar stools and a breakfast and lunch (a meat and 3), and burgers fit for kings and queens. My dad ate breakfast there every morning around 6 am. My brother still does every day except Sunday. Closed for the Lord’s Day. I had meant to reply earlier to you. Better late than never. I trust that you and your family had a wonderful Christmas. Happy 2020. May God’s blessings be abundant this year. Take care my friend.
It amazes me how rich we were in our growing up experiences! I’d love to visit Blakely one day and have a burger at Smitty’s! (reminder: put that on my bucket list!) In East Aurora, we still have a 5 and dime with old creaky wooden floors and everything! It’s Vidler’s on Main Street and tour buses even show up there sometimes!
We did have a wonderful Christmas, thank you, as I hope you did. May your 2020 be spectacular with abundant blessings as well (does He bless us any other way?) and love, lots of love!