CHRISTMAS RABBIT HUNTING

This is one last Christmas story from my Christmas booklet several years ago. It was written by my sweet brother-in-law and I was so pleased that he contributed to our booklet. My wish for all of you is a blessed and peace-filled Christmas. And here is the story of Rabbit Hunting in Alaska.

In the late 1950’s my two sisters and I were in elementary school in Anchorage, Alaska. Christmas in Alaska was fun because the guaranteed white stuff meant lots of sledding, snowmen, and snowball fights. However, winters in Alaska were cold, and the nights long. Long nights with no computers, and fuzzy black and white TV dictated that we find other forms of entertainment. Board games were fun and my sisters and I had asked for a SORRY board game for Christmas. A common tradition in our home was looking for presents before Christmas. Our parents hid presents throughout the house until the night before Christmas when they were placed under the tree. My parents knew about our “rabbit hunting.” They were good at hiding presents and added an extra precaution by taping and wrapping presents before hiding them.

My sisters and I found one particular wrapped package approximately two weeks before Christmas. From the dimensions and sounds when shaken, we guessed that it was a SORRY board game we anxiously wanted to play. We spent several evenings alone without Mom and Dad and thoroughly examined the mystery package. The minute examination finally led to cautious tugging at the edge of the tape holding the Christmas paper. Careful and patient pulling revealed a means to pull the SORRY Board Game out of its wrapping. The tape was carefully loosened allowing the wrapping paper to be opened at one end, and the SORRY board game slid out of its wrapping. For two weeks before Christmas, we enjoyed playing the SORRY board game every time our parents were gone.

We always detected our parent’s arrival home early enough to hide our mischievous deed. We carefully slid the game back into its wrapping, reattached the original tape, and re-hid the package. I fondly remember how much fun it was opening the well used SORRY game at Christmas and pretending surprise.