Christmas memories are often warm and fuzzy as people look back at their childhoods, whether they be yesterday or decades ago. Or memories might be sad and poignant as folks recall loved ones who are no longer with us. We took to the streets in search of memories that were different or funny or taught a lesson. Here is what we found.
Tom Lembo, owner of Lotsa Pasta, Danville
When Tom Lembo, owner of Lotsa Pasta on Hartz Avenue, was 13 years old, his mother gave him 13 presents for Christmas. He said he opened them under a Christmas tree with silver tinsel hanging from its branches at his childhood home in Oakland.
“I’d never had half that many,” said Lembo, who used to own nine bakeries in San Francisco.
He said the 13 gifts included toys, a scooter, a pair of skates and some clothes. But after he opened the 13th gift, he found himself craving more presents to unwrap.
“I wanted more,” he said.
He has since put things back into perspective and realized that less is often better than more. He said he learned an important lesson that Christmas.
“You could be happy with less presents, not more,” he said. “You should enjoy what you get.”
Chanda Jones, Alamo resident and patron of Ciao Bella Hair, Skin, & Body Salon
Christmas gifts come in different surprises during the holidays. Many young boys receive videogames. Some mothers get new silverware. And girlfriends may get diamond rings – like Chanda Jones of Alamo.
“It was absolutely magic,” said Chanda Jones, when her boyfriend Steve proposed to her on a bended knee last December after they had been dating for two years.
She said they ate at a Pan Asian Restaurant in Walnut Creek and ordered shrimp, beef and chicken. After finishing their meal and ordering dessert, Steve bended down on one knee, pulled out a diamond ring, and offered a marriage proposal to her.
When the couple celebrated the Christmas holiday with their families, they all planned the wedding together.
“It was so full of love,” Jones said about the wonderful Christmas occasion. “Everything just sort of came together.” They are now anticipating their first Christmas as a married couple.
Connie Peterson, owner of the Alamo Flower Company
What better way to spread the holiday spirit than by playing pranks on family members and giggling gleefully, said Connie Peterson, owner of the Alamo Flower Company.
When Connie and her husband Jim, a former sports announcer for the Oakland Athletics and University of Minnesota, lived in New Brighton, Minn., one of Jim’s family member’s gave a purple Minnesota Vikings towel to a loved one.
“It was an ugly towel,” Jim said.
The loved one who received the towel didn’t like it and donated it to a charity organization. But another family member found the purple towel, bought it, and gave it to another relative. Jim’s family kept giving the gift every season as a joke.
“It makes Christmas fun,” Connie said about the prank.
Chris Wenzel, Danville police chief
Spending many weeks preparing for one festive occasion, said Chris Wenzel, Danville police chief, is a great time of excitement but he’d like it to continue beyond the Christmas season.
Though Wenzel and his wife Karen enjoy seeing their 5-year-old daughter Sarah and 3-year-old son Ryan waking up and opening their Christmas presents, he wants more than one day for quality family time.
He said most people should spend more time with their loved ones during the year, instead of devoting their energies to work. He wishes Christmas came more than once a year.
“It can be a bit draining,” Wenzel said about time spent at work. “The rest of the year is working.”
Donna Bruner, owner of Tribez in Danville
Donna Bruner, owner of Tribez salon, said she always regaled the other stylists with tales about mischievous Kachina, her little Manchester terrier, but last year the pup really outdid herself.
Bruner had stopped at Sees Candies after work, bought several gifts for relatives and put the candy into her bedroom closet. When she arrived home after work the next day, a chocolate scent filled the air – chocolate mixed with something else unpleasant.
“She had eaten three boxes of candy,” Donna said, tearing off the Christmas wrappings to get to it.
Kachina was violently ill and Bruner rushed the little dog to the emergency veterinary center in Dublin where they saved her life. She was lucky, Bruner noted, because just one-eighth ounce of chocolate can be lethal to a 16-pound dog.
“She especially liked the dark molasses chips,” recalled Bruner. And she accused her fiancÈ of trying to do away with Kachina – most of the candy papers were on the floor on his side of the bed.
