'My best Christmas ever.'

Ebony, Dec, 1996

WE lived with my mother in a low-income housing project in Chicago. There was this guy who preyed on families by breaking into their apartments and taking whatever he wanted. One Christmas, when I was about 7, he came in and took all the Christmas presents and wrecked our tree. When we woke up on Christmas morning, there were no toys for us. My mother distracted us by playing games and by taking us out to make angels in the snow. Even though we didn't get any toys that Christmas, it taught me, at an early age, the true meaning of Christmas--that the holiday is about celebrating the love of Christ and enjoying the love of those who care for you.

MY most memorable Christmas was probably the Christmas of '84 when my mom and dad bought me a three-wheeler called a trike. They used to hide our gifts in the house, but my two older brothers and I were always able to find them before Christmas Day. But this Christmas, we couldn't find the gifts or figure out what they were. Well, on Christmas morning dad took me outside to our van, and there it was hidden in the van--a trike with a motor and huge, knobby tires that made the dirt fly I drove that thing an day long, up and down and through the snow, over mountains and stuff. It was a fun Christmas for a child and I will never forget it.