Christmas 1982

A family trip to the Bronx

Despite how young I was at the time, Christmas of 1982 is a core memory. My mom, dad, baby brother, and I drove from our small horse farm in Indiana to my maternal grandparents’ home on Story Avenue in the Bronx.

I remember the wonder of seeing the lights of the toll plaza on the bridge (it was probably the George Washington Bridge) for the first time, walking in the snow at night between my grandparents’ house and Mrs. Eddington’s, their neighbor who was babysitting us for the evening - the doors seemed so close to each other because it was just across the driveway in the space between the houses - sitting on the stairs in my grandparent’s house, meeting my grandmother’s (loud) friends from the police department, and the tree - it was so much larger and shinier than ours at home.

My grandparents’ Christmas tree, 1982. The nativity scene under it is the one my grandmother always had on display for as long as I can remember. Her daughter Joan had made it.

I remember this trip, but it wasn’t until the visit to my mother’s in November that I saw all the pictures. I probably did see these before - at some point - when I was younger, I had a habit of going through my mother’s photo albums as if reading a book. But I see them in a new light in middle age.

Alicia, Christmas 1982. Grandma and Grandpa Maertz’s in the Bronx.

Alice Maertz and grandson Christopher, Christmas 1982 in the Bronx.

Bruce, Christopher, Grandpa Maertz, Grandma Maertz. Christmas 1982.

This visit also coincided with my brother’s christening, so many of the photos in this particular photo album were from that event - and I’m not in any of those pictures. Neither is my Aunt Evelyn so presumably she’s off camera keeping me quiet, though my mother doesn’t remember 3-year-old me being a problem at the event (“Yeah, Mom, because Aunt Ev dragged me off!”). I honestly don’t remember the christening, though I remember bits and pieces of other parts of the trip.

I also know that the scans I have now aren’t all of the pictures. My Uncle Mike took us around the Bronx Zoo and we saw the shop displays in Manhattan at some point. Uncle Mike loved taking “the kids” around the city.

Mike Short with two of his grandkids on his knees, front: Christopher and Alicia Prater. Christmas 1982 in the Bronx. The Frosty and Rudolph hanging in the background were annual decorations in my grandmother’s house for as long as I can remember.

I know I’ve seen the pictures of the actual outing somewhere else, and though I couldn’t locate them, I did find a really great one of me with my grandmother.

Alice Maertz and granddaughter Alicia Prater. New York City, December 1982.

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Merry Christmas, Joyeuz Noel, Feliz Navidad, Nollaig Shona, Buon Natale… Happy Holidays however, wherever, and whenever you celebrate !!