Truman Capote's "A Christmas Memory"
http://www.sailthouforth.com/2009/12/christmas-memory.htmlImagine a morning in late November. A coming of winter morning more than twenty years ago. Consider the kitchen of a spreading old house in a country town. A great black stove is its main feature; but there is also a big round table and a fireplace with two rocking chairs placed in front of it. Just today the fireplace commenced its seasonal roar.
A woman with shorn white hair is standing at the kitchen window. She is wearing tennis shoes and a shapeless gray sweater over a summery calico dress. She is small and sprightly, like a bantam hen; but, due to a long youthful illness, her shoulders are pitifully hunched. Her face is remarkable—not unlike Lincoln's, craggy like that, and tinted by sun and wind; but it is delicate too, finely boned, and her eyes are sherry-colored and timid. "Oh my," she exclaims, her breath smoking the windowpane, "it's fruitcake weather!"
The person to whom she is speaking is myself. I am seven; she is sixty-something, We are cousins, very distant ones, and we have lived together—well, as long as I can remember. Other people inhabit the house, relatives; and though they have power over us, and frequently make us cry, we are not, on the whole, too much aware of them. We are each other's best friend. She calls me Buddy, in memory of a boy who was formerly her best friend. The other Buddy died in the 1880's, when she was still a child. She is still a child.
"I knew it before I got out of bed," she says, turning away from the window with a purposeful excitement in her eyes. "The courthouse bell sounded so cold and clear. And there were no birds singing; they've gone to warmer country, yes indeed. Oh, Buddy, stop stuffing biscuit and fetch our buggy. Help me find my hat. We've thirty cakes to bake."
There's also a movie version, narrated by Capote and starring Geraldine Page
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=a+christmas+memory&FORM=HDRSC3#view=detail&mid=CABF183BEC6B6DDE9186CABF183BEC6B6DDE9186
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Truman Capote's "A Christmas Memory" is our favorite Christmas story. It's somewhat different from every other Christmas story you have ever seen, heard, or read.
"A Christmas Memory" is a Capote short story (I've also seen it described as a "novella"
set in Depression-era rural Alabama. Young Capote -- "Buddy" in the story -- has been sent by his parents to live with family in Monroeville, AL. The household consists of several adult relatives, one of whom is an older woman whom Capote calls "Sook." She is mildly retarded (I know -- that's not the correct term); she and Capote become close friends.
You do need to be careful: There are TWO video productions of this story.
1. The first and very best is an old ABC Stage 67 production starring Geraldine Page and narrated by Capote. It is available on DVD from Amazon. The DVD is not the best quality -- it's in black and white and from time to time the audio is difficult to hear. It is this version from which the original diary is quoting.
2. A 2007 (?) production starring Patty Duke. Don't waste your time or money on this one. This one is less than true to the Capote story; brings in a lot of extra characters; takes liberties with the story.
If you purchase the DVD from Amazon, look carefully at what you are buying to make certain you're getting the ABC Stage 67 production with Geraldine Page.
I recommend you purchase the book -- we like the one illustrated by Beth Peck.
We love the story and each Christmas we watch the old black and white DVD.
