All I Want for Christmas is...

 All I Want for Christmas is...

    When I was 6, we used to live in a small brown house on A Street. There was a vent on the floor of our living room that looked down into the basement. You could pull the top off and push the springs down on the bottom. I was almost brave enough to jump down and break both my legs. Instead, I used it as a trap door for my G.I. Joe and Star Wars action figures. I pushed that bottom screen down over and over, dropping Darth Vader and his men to their deaths.
    My mother was not happy with this. She was not only worried I would get hurt, she also didn't like the constant "BANG" of the vent. She sent me to my room.
    No problem - just another place to play. In my room I would set all of the figures up so they were all over the room. Luke Skywalker would be on the dresser, Storm Shadow on the head of the bed, Snake Eyes on my desk, Han Solo on my Muppets drum set. Once everyone is in position, I would shoot them down with a rubber band.
    "Take that Cobra Commander!"
    Yet again, my mother was not amused and the rubber bands were confiscated. She needed to give me a distraction and today was her lucky day - the Sears Christmas catalog arrived in the mail. She handed me the catalog and told me to pick out what I wanted for Christmas. Usually my brother and I would just circle what we wanted but this time I decided I was going to cut out the pictures of what I wanted to see under the tree that year.
    The toy section was always in the back. As far I was concerned, there was no need for the rest of the catalog. I jumped right to the back and looked for some new action figures to toss down the vent. Return of the Jedi came out earlier in the year so there was a whole new collection of characters to get. The Jabba the Hut dungeon was out and I had to have it!
    Something was different that day. I still don't know why, but I just didn't see the toys I wanted. I knew all those action figures on those pages but nothing stood out as a 'need' so I didn't cut them out.
    A little while later, my mom came in and said she made lunch. I ran out to the dining room and sat down to a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. She walked over to my desk to see what I wanted under the Christmas tree that year... a rifle and a model in lingerie.