Ghosts of Christmas Past

Editors Note: We received this very nice essay from one of our favorite correspondents - Dr Bob Gallagher. Many of us will have our memories jogged a bit by his recollections of his Christmas's past. I think most of us will read this and be able to share a smile -- or even a melancholy moment or two -- reflecting on the magic of being a child in holiday seasons past.

Christmas in Pittsburgh

Christmas has past and today I sat around thinking of the images of the Christmases of my youth. Yes, it was a LONG time ago, but the mind is still sharp enough to bring back memories.

A week or so before Christmas our family would drive the 25 miles to the “big city” (Pittsburgh) to take in the Christmas sights. All the department stores would convert their outside display windows into scenes of the season, with electric trains in action, snowy villages and Santa’s workshop showing elves hard at work making Christmas toys.

The sidewalks were crowded with shoppers on their way to find that perfect gift. On every corner would be a young boy with his stack of newspapers for sale. The hustle and bustle of the big city always put us in the Christmas mood.

When I was about eleven or twelve and in the Boy Scouts, we sold Christmas trees as a money making project. It had snowed, heavily, and we were able to just stick the trees into the snow to make our own forest. Trees 6’ and under went for 50 cents and those taller ones were 75 cents. Of course, the man who had the tree sales around the corner, wasn’t happy since he charged $1 per tree.

At our house, we bought our tree and then left it on the back porch for Santa to put up and decorate. On Christmas morning it was such a sight to come down stairs and see the tree and Santa’s gifts to us on display under the tree. I remember that one year he put balloons in the tree as additional decorations.

One of the gifts I always remember was a dart game. You loaded three or four darts into a box that had a reverse periscope attached to it and a lever to release the darts. You stood over the dart board, which was a map of Tokyo, and let those bombs go ! By now, you can figure how old I am.

Another tradition at our house was that after opening all the gifts, my mom and dad would take a very long nap. It wasn’t until later, when I became part of the midnight visit from Santa, for my sister, that I discovered the reason for this traditional “family sleep time”. It seems that after doing all the “Santa” thing at our house, my parents went next door to help with our neighbor’s tree. Their Christmas tradition consisted of starting to drink after dinner and by the time their kids were in bed, the neighbors were pretty much wasted. If it wasn’t for my parents, there wouldn’t have been much of a Christmas next door. Hence the Christmas nap time at our house.

Well, those are some of the Christmas memories I always think about from my childhood. I hope you can sit back and let the memories of your youth pass through your mind and bring a smile to your face.

So, Merry Christmas, even though it’s late.

Bob Gallagher

Five People I Met On Earth

Dr Bob Gallagher is a friend of more than 30 years and he is someone I never met personally until a number of those years went by. You see, before there was internet gaming, there was postal (snail mail gaming). There was actually a sizeable number of folks playing games -- all sorts --through the mail, one turn at a time.

And before there were blogs, there were hobbyist home-made newsletters. Yes, the first Brouhaha was a gaming newletter that I wrote, photocopied, collated, stapled and mailed out to as many as 60 gamers.I believe I did this for 3 years or so.

Our friendship started through the mails while playing a postal game called "Diplomacy." It continued over these many years always centered around online gaming activities. I think we've gotten to know each other personally while traveling down some of life's highways.

Although Dr. Bob writes about some famous folks he's encountered in his 70 years, he is quite self-deprecating about his own life. When I first met him postally, he was a dentist then in a suburb of Pittsburgh near the steel industry flourished.. When the steel mills closed down in the 70s and 80's, Bob's dental practice withered up to the point where he couldn't afford to continue it any longer. In his forties at that point, we and wife Karen had 2 kids to support. So they packed everything up in the car (like the Beverly Hillbillies!) and drove south to Orlando, Florida to begin a new life. In true pioneer spirit, and with little else that what they could bring along in that car, they started over.

Since he's been there for almost 22 years now, and he and Karen have done what it takes to raise the family. Bob's been a catalog designer for a plumbing warehouse, a high school teacher, a puppeteer, a wood worker, an actor and most recently, a photographer at Disney World. Karen has worked for the state for many years. Consequently, both their children are college educated and graduated, are professionals on their own. Plus, they now have provided a small flock of Grandchildren.

So, when you read about the people that Dr Bob met along the way that he's admired, keep in mind that he, too, has done some extraordinary "ordinary" things in his life as well. For sure, he won’t become as famous as the people he writes about. But I am not sure any of them have anything over Bob and Karen in courage, responsibility, and hard work.

Where Was My Dream?

by Dr Bob Gallagher

Here are 5 people I’ve known, back when they had a dream of the future, and what they have accomplished.

Mickey Ferrari was three years behind me in high school. We played in a combo that another friend started. Mickey played trumpet and, no he didn’t become a great musician. Mickey loved school and wanted to further his career in college administration. Mickey’s four-year tuition at Michigan State University was $7.25, which went for some type of tax. Dr. Michael Ferrari became

President of Drake University for about 10-12 years and then moved on to Rice University. He now is retired and works as a part-time college administration headhunter.

When I was a dentist, this next individual was a patient of mine when he was in junior high and high school. He always wanted to play quarterback for Notre Dame. He turned down a free pass to play basketball at North Carolina to go to Notre Dame as #7 on the quarterback depth chart. He got his dream and then some as he played a little football in the NFL and now Joe Montana is in the NFL Hall of Fame.


While substitute teaching. (My third career) I had many football players, who had no ambition and were just putting in time until high school graduation. One of them was different. I don’t want to say he was dumber than dirt, but he had a difficult time grasping anything in school. He wanted to play football for Florida State. When there was some “free time” in class, he didn’t goof off, as the other jocks did. He kept trying to understand the work he had to do. Chauncy Davis played at Florida State and now plays defensive end for the Atlanta Falcons.

I met Richard Borg at a miniature wargaming convention. Richard wanted to design a war game that he could sell to a big time game company. He kept after his dream and developed a rules system he called “Command and Colors”. I was a Civil War game and he ended up selling it to Avalon Hill. The then transferred the system to a World War II game, which is now sold as Memoir ’44.

Shortly after I moved to Florida, the local community theater announced auditions for a production of West Side Story. I auditioned, hoping to win one of the four non-singing parts. Since there were only four of us trying out for those parts, it was, pretty much a given to get one. So, I became Officer Krupki. There was a Puerto Rican girl cast as Anita, a very demanding role requiring acting, singing and dancing. I found out that this gal was only a high school junior, attending the local school for performing arts. Just last week I saw that she was named the #6 diva on Broadway for her part in “In The Heights”. Karen Olivo, has since left the show to reprise her role as Anita in the upcoming Broadway revival of West Side Story.

I only wish that I had the same focus and desire when I was growing up, as these five individuals had in their lives.