Page A2 / The Joan De Arc Crusader / Monday, December 25, 2023

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EDITORIAL PAGE

“Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.” – Voltaire

     

Letter from the Editor

All I want for Christmas are my mell-ow-cremes

by J. Bueker

     One of the sadder aspects of aging is the gradual disappearance of all the stuff you loved as a kid. My personal examples feel innumerable, but at Christmastime I am particularly afflicted by the inescapable melancholia of childhood holiday reminiscence.
     My family will wearily attest to the fact that I remain a maniacal stickler for Christmas tradition and I nurture in perpetuity eminently fond memories of our Yuletides at 3219 W. Joan De Arc Avenue, as indeed any devoted reader of the Crusader is well aware. Alas, with each passing year, The Ghost of Christmas Past weighs a tad more heavily upon my soul.
     I dearly miss such bygone Yuletide phenomena as the Sears Wish Book catalog, Christmas shopping at Chris-Town mall, Christmas Eve at Grandma’s house, the mildly inebriated Santa Claus at Westown Shopping City, to name but a precious few. The Christmas cartoon standards like
A Charlie Brown Christmas and Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol seemed so much more precious and meaningful back when we only had that one fleeting opportunity to view them, else it was tough luck kid, wait ‘til next year.
     When it comes to Christmas candy, I still insist upon receiving the traditional Life Savers Sweet Story Book despite its marked decline in recent decades, and I yet savor the occasional candy cane. But there was one other holiday candy that I always considered truly indispensable to the season, and unlike the other two, this one has completely vanished into history: Brach’s Christmas Mellocremes.
     The Brach’s Christmas Mellocremes of yore were delicious chocolate, vanilla, banana, peppermint and lime flavored mellocreme candies shaped to comport with a rich variety of Christmas iconography such as drums, dolls, toy soldiers, trees, angels, Santas, and the like. The mellocremes first appeared in the 1950s, and although I am unsure exactly when they disappeared from store shelves, their absence has been keenly felt for quite a few years now. Sadly, Brach’s has seemingly lost interest in making a variety of beloved holiday candies from our youth -- they even discontinued the legendary Easter Hunt Marshmallow Eggs for crying out loud. Madness.
     In all fairness to Brach’s, it should be duly noted that the company did reintroduce a Christmas mellocreme candy of sorts a couple years back called “Elf Candy Cane Forest,” which features such odd flavors as maple syrup, frosted sugar cookie, and toasted marshmallow. With misplaced optimism I purchased a bag of these “Christmas mellocremes” last year and let’s just say they are in no way comparable to the beloved old mellocremes of yesteryear and thus scarcely replacement for my all-time favorite Christmas candy.
     Far be it from me to lecture candy companies on their own business just to suit my quaint personal sense of nostalgia. I suppose there is little choice but to add the Brach’s mellowcremes to my sad and growing list of bygone Christmas joys. Alas, but at least we still have our Life Savers (for now).
     Que sera, sera. Peace on Earth and a very Merry Christmas to our dear readers!

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LETTERS

 We welcome your letters at jdacrusader@aol.com.

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Cranky Chuck’s Christmas and Year in Review

      Season’s Greetings and Bah Humbug, loyal readers. Once again it is time to look back at the twelve months we have just slogged though and make an initial assessment. We are wrapping up what has been the Year of the Dragon on the Chinese calendar, and just like a dragon, the past 365 days have been both majestic and fraught with hidden dangers.  So, was 2024 naughty or nice? Let us weigh the evidence.
     On the nice side of the ledger, we have much to consider. A new grandchild for us tops the list as the happy and beautiful baby April arrived in July. The opportunity to spend time with our other grandchild Malcolm, and watching him grow into such a clever little two-year-old, has been equally cherished this year. In the immediate family we all mostly enjoy good health and financial stability and a wealth of goods and services available to us that our parents and grandparents could have only dreamed about.
     The naughty side of the list is also well populated, unfortunately. In this country we were faced with an election year that was guaranteed to disappoint at least half of the American population no matter what happened. Income inequality continues to rise and too many of our working-class folks are just barely scraping by, despite their best efforts. Internationally there are multiple wars started or continuing this year on multiple fronts that are killing innocent civilians, tearing apart families, and destroying property. At last count there are 120 million people around the world who have been forced to flee their homes.
     When you put it all together, 2024 was a very mixed bag, just like most years. The perceptive reader, however, might note that the worst of 2024 has taken place well outside of their personal experience, and for that we should all be grateful. My hope for 2025 is that all the problems in the world will be solved, including yours, but that’s a lot to expect. I can only echo and leave you with the words of the poet:

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let’s hope it’s a good one
Without any fear

Less cranky Chuck may or may not make an appearance for next year’s column. Be hopeful.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________JDA

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