Holiday Joy!

I mentioned in a previous blog that I found an old photo album belonging to my late brother-in-law George in the back of a closet in my sister Susan's townhouse up in Fort Collins. It was filled with many family photos from the early 1970s, including a number of them taken during the Christmas season, such as the one on the left of Susan and my mother Mary  - holding our dog Irma - taken in the living room of our house in Country Club Hills. Although I hated that southern suburb of Chicago, the entire extended family lived close by, which made for especially cheerful Christmas celebrations.

The photograph on the right was taken in the recreation room of that split level home, and features George, Susan, and Grandfather Spillard, who lived in a townhouse in nearby Park Forest. I liked Park Forest, a suburb built for returning veterans and their families after World War II. I especially liked the Park Forest Shopping Center, which featured a Marshall Fields Department Store, where I often did my Christmas shopping at the bargain table upstairs. It was an outdoor shopping center, and very Christmassy during the holidays, especially after a recent snowfall. The last time I visited, back in 2010, the place was mostly vacant. Sad.

Although I hated Country Club Hills, I loved Flossmoor, located just a few miles to the east. It was an old established suburb, and Susan and George had a large apartment above the downtown shops in an old building directly across the street from the Illinois Central Railroad station. The photograph on the left shows my father Nelson looking very jolly sitting by the tree in that apartment, while my sister Susan is bending down beside our dog Irma, no doubt reprimanding her for something or other. I am surprised Susan even allowed us to bring her into the apartment. Nothing like old holiday photos to put you in the Christmas spirit. Which is saying something for an old curmudgeon like me.