Christmas is a special and blessed time of the year no matter how old you are. But...it's extra special when you you're little (however you want to define 'little' is fine with me).

When you think back to when you walked around in a young person's skin, what's the most memorable Christmas present you ever took from under the tree and unwrapped? You know, the one that took your little kid breath away?

The other day i was talking to my friend Ken Girard from Girard Auction down there in Wakonda and was telling him about the time, ahem...some decades ago...when my brother and I got a brand new shiny firetruck. It cam from Fey Texaco in Edgerton, perhaps not the first place you think of when you think Christmas shopping!

But this was the coolest firetruck ever! You could hook up a hose to it and bingo, it would shoot water just like a real firetruck. I could see that thing in my minds eye as I was telling Ken about it.

Well, of course Ken is a collector himself. And he says 'I think I know exactly the one you're talking about. I have it myself, I'll send you a picture'.

And so he did. And by golly, there it is in the picture above.

Yessir, that could be the exact one we had! Except, of course, the one we had sat out in the rain and snow, then more rain and snow and got lost in the fog of the decades. It's gone now, except in the memory and heart that is mine...and I'll bet my brother's, too.

So thank you Ken for bringing that Texaco Firetruck from the 1960's back to life.

So how about you? What's was your most memorable present?

And I hope you (and everyone) has a Merry and Blessed Christmas!

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