22 December 2013
Quote of the Day: Carolyn Hax's Holiday Hootenanny
Advice columnist Carolyn Hax hosts weekly chats, and every year in early December they have a holiday themed chat where people tell holiday horror stories. The following story was submitted this year:
"My mother set herself on fire last Christmas Day. My parents live in an old wooden house, yet insist on having lit candles everywhere. For atmosphere. Christmas morning I pulled up to the house, the first child there, and saw in the yard a broom with burned-off bristles. It was cold, yet the front door wide was open. I walked in, called out 'Merry Christmas!' and there is not a soul to be seen or heard. I pass by the dryer. I see burn marks on the front, knobs melted. Walk by some plants, see leaves burned off. House smells smoky. I find my mother in the living room, dazed yet still filling stockings. She says 'Look what I did,' and shows me burn holes in her pajamas. I also notice a burned-off lock of hair on her collar and ash on her cheek. Turns out she backed into a candle, set herself on fire, then ran through the house yelling for my dad. He finally heard her, and beat the fire out with the broom. I was instructed to not tell the other family members. (I did anyway) Stop, drop, and roll is the new holiday mantra around our place."
"My mother set herself on fire last Christmas Day. My parents live in an old wooden house, yet insist on having lit candles everywhere. For atmosphere. Christmas morning I pulled up to the house, the first child there, and saw in the yard a broom with burned-off bristles. It was cold, yet the front door wide was open. I walked in, called out 'Merry Christmas!' and there is not a soul to be seen or heard. I pass by the dryer. I see burn marks on the front, knobs melted. Walk by some plants, see leaves burned off. House smells smoky. I find my mother in the living room, dazed yet still filling stockings. She says 'Look what I did,' and shows me burn holes in her pajamas. I also notice a burned-off lock of hair on her collar and ash on her cheek. Turns out she backed into a candle, set herself on fire, then ran through the house yelling for my dad. He finally heard her, and beat the fire out with the broom. I was instructed to not tell the other family members. (I did anyway) Stop, drop, and roll is the new holiday mantra around our place."
Labels: holidays
# posted by mamurd @ 9:18 PM 
