Christmas Memories

It's funny, isn't it, that of the four people at Lakeshore Mall, asked about their most special Christmas memory, each involved a holiday with a mother, a father or a child.

1939

Donald Davis Beverly still remembers the Christmas Day he woke up and was mystified about what he found under the tree in New Jersey.

"Daddy," he said. "We got two bicycles."

"One of them is for you," said Albert Beverly. "The other one is for your cousin, Bobby."

Bobby's father had died, so Albert bought an extra bike for his nephew.

And although it has nothing to do with Christmas, Donald Beverly, now 76 and wintering in Avon Park, couldn't help but tell that the Beverlys were a childless couple before he came along.

He found out the family secret after he got mad at a little boy and said he would tell the boy's mother. The boy said, "She's not your mother. It turned out, they were my adoptive parents."

So Don had an adult conversation with his mom and dad, and found out something. This Christmas, his parents, who were his mother and father because they wanted a little boy so much, bought gifts for two boys, not because they had to, but because they wanted to.

1978

Diane Foster lives in Sebring now, but 30 years ago, she flew into West Palm Beach to show off her new son, Ron, to his grandpa, Ron.

Her parents had divorced, and Foster hadn't seen her dad for a long time.

"He thought it was great," she recalled. The baby was just a few months old, and grandpa was afraid to handle the child.

"He was afraid he would break him," Foster said.

"We just sat around and watched TV and went to the beach and had dinner," Foster said.

Even so, it's her most unforgettable holiday memory.

1983

"It was my last Christmas with my mother," said Nichole Davis of Sebring, who just a minute ago was complaining about having to come to work at the Hickory Farms kiosk at 7 a.m. Saturday. There were no customers until 10 a.m., just mall walkers.

"I was 14. It was a good Christmas. She died three months after that," Davis said, her eyes misting and her voice tightening at what is also her saddest yuletide memory. "She knew she was sick, and she didn't have much longer.

"It was - it was just having her there. We went to my grandmother's house for Christmas dinner."

2002

Some years are better than others, and Trish Morris was not having a good one.

But then Christmas rolled around. She was spending the holiday with her parents, Ray and Teresa Hammond, and her in-laws, Bart and Stephanie Miller.

"I found out I was having a boy," said Morris, who was spending her Saturday at the mall as Santa's helper. "He was the most perfect Christmas present."

She made the announcement during the holiday meal.

"It was the best time of the year, and I was having a bad time until then. He came along on Jan. 6, and that made it 10 times better."