July 5: It takes a village

 When we were kids - and I mean real little kids - sister and I used to amuse ourselves for hours playing with the Fisher Price garage and village sets. Technically, the garage was mine and the village was hers, but we shared.

The garage had a car elevator that you could move up and down by winding a crank. There was a bell that would ding everytime the elevator reached one of the three levels. There were four cars and four Fisher Price people and there was even a car jack and a gas pump so you could fill the cars up. There was a parking lot on the upper level and there was a ramp that the cars could go down. 

The village? Well that was even better. The village had six storefronts – a fire hall, a post office, a theatre, a police station (complete with jail cell), a barber shop, and a garage. There was even a phone booth where the Fisher Price people could make phone calls. Each of the buildings had mail slots so they could receive letters (also included.) There was a traffic light, a dining set for a rooftop patio (on top of the garage) as well as a fire truck, police car, etc...

If a time traveler brought an iPad down to our basement circa 1977, I doubt that sister and I would have been interested. Garage and village was our world. In my brother's words, they were the staple of the playroom.

Sister and I grew up and garage and village became irrelevant. They were banished to the storage room for a while and later unloaded at a yard sale. 

Somewhere in there, my sister had kids of her own. When they were very young, I got on eBay and found vintage sets of the garage and village. They cost a pretty penny - nostalgia ain't cheap - but I ponied up the dough and had them shipped to my parents' house for Christmas.

Somewhere, there is video footage of young niece and nephew opening their garage and village. They were young millennials, had no idea that they were unearthing magic. But sister knew. Mom knew. Brother knew. That's what was important.

So you want to know how to make the best Christmas ever?

Well... it take a village.

A garage too.