My Take: By Geoff Agombar

My Take: By Geoff Agombar

The format of a My Take is 150 words – no more, no less – to express an opinion on a different topic each week. This week’s topic was memories.

A stand out holiday memory in my family is waking to a couch laden with stockings stuffed fat like a sausage and as big as your leg.
One for each of the brothers. Two, then three, then four brothers. Somehow, even as our legs grew, the stockings were always the size of your leg. Each year’s stocking stuffing stuffed the stockings to match. As we stretched, so did they. Like overblown balloons.
Filling those stockings equally but uniquely must have occupied Mom’s mind for months. Candies and fruit could repeat, but four toothbrushes meant four colours. Dollar store toys and trinkets always of equal value, but each a unique personality. Bulked out by underwear and socks.
Looking back at holiday memories is like looking down a kaleidoscope. Tumbling, sparkling chaos. Candy-coloured. Surprising sharp edges. Unique in every moment, yet always familiar. A predictably unpredictable jumble.

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