Sunday Ride

"My first wagon ,when Santa brought it, I was so happy--we were very poor at the time. I was 7 years old. I shined that wagon, put my dolls in there. I felt as if it was my first car. Christmas would not be Christmas unless everyone had a red wagon, or even shared one. Now I am 54, looking for one for my grandkids. My oldest is eight, I waited so long, I've been very sick. I am not going to live long, I am on a fixed income and need a wagon, maybe Santa would send for a 3 year old, 5 year old and an 8 year old, but one big wagon would be fine. Without a wagon under the tree, life has no meaning for Christmas. It's a tradition, Merry Christmas , happy red wagon dreaming."

It's hard to remember a time in my life when I haven't had a Radio Flyer wagon, beginning fifty years ago with my brother and I racing down the hill by our house, in the wagon he received from Santa. I remember my best friend and I delivering cookies, thirty years later my own daughter delivering cookies, all in a Radio Flyer red wagon. One of my favorite and most bittersweet memories is of my children placing their handicapped cousin and their dog in his red wagon and taking him for a ride around the neighborhood. My nephew became handicapped at the age of two after a horrible accident, as a result of his accident he is unable to see or walk. He was in the hospital for 5 months, we visited him almost daily, my children ate their meals at the hospital cafeteria and did their homework in the hospital play room. My own children were 5 and 9 at the time. Seeing the gentleness they displayed towards their cousin and wanting to include him in their play time was truly a heart touching moment that I will never forget.