The Sun Journal asked readers and staffers to share some of their favorite Christmas memories, and we’ll run them over three more days. Today: the kindness of strangers, cow patties and sweet nothings.

That stinks

“On a snowy Sunday afternoon in December 1970, my father and I drove to a relative’s nearby dairy farm to cut Christmas trees for our family and my grandparents. Our search took us across the field and all through the woods. We finally emerged from the woods carrying the Christmas trees on our shoulders.

“We trudged back across the field in snow over our ankles. It was now snowing heavily, and dusk was approaching. We decided to take an easy shortcut to the road by walking across the flat area behind the barn.

“The flat snow began getting deeper and deeper and was soon at our knees. My father and I stopped, turned, and looked at each other. We were sinking into the snow as if standing in quicksand. It was hard to pull our feet up. Then … the smell hit! By this time we were thigh deep in a snow-covered manure pit. We scrambled out, trees and all, laughing and groaning as we struggled.”

Julia Bundy, Minot

My sweet

“It wouldn’t be Christmas without Eugene. I always hated the holiday, and frankly still do, but he makes it an actual enjoyable day. And even though I always choose to work, he still makes it special.”

Amber Waterman, SJ photographer

A stranger knocks

“There was a Sun Journal story in 2003 about a family who had been stricken with illnesses. The father was working out of state, trying to raise money to finish building a home for his family, doing the work himself. As a result of that story, that year we ‘adopted’ them without their knowledge, pooling funds we raised to purchase a Home Depot card to help with the partially completed home.

“On Christmas Eve in a storm, I drove to their home to deliver the gift card they had no idea was coming. The building they were living in (next door to the new place) was very rundown, but I will remember forever how graciously that family who was having such a rough time welcomed me, despite not knowing why I was there. They showed the Christmas spirit the moment they saw me, and their later joy in knowing that strangers cared is a favorite Christmas memory of mine.

“That experience prompted me to continue raising funds for others with various projects to this day. Every year at Christmas, I wonder how they made out, and while I wish I knew, that particular Christmas stands out amongst many through the years regardless.”

A member of the Sweet Dreams Team, Lewiston

Unlikely angel

“It was about 65 years ago and things were a little better after the big war, but things were never flush for my folks. Both had lost their mothers early and had come from tough times through the Depression (with a big ‘D’). We didn’t think of ourselves as ‘poor’ — both of my parents worked, but they believed in paying their bills first, and if there was anything left for a Christmas present or two, that was good.

“My folks had a couple of friends that they had mixed feelings about. He was suspected of being a Communist and maybe the government was checking on him. He had stored boxes of papers at our house, and my parents were torn between their friends and fear of getting into trouble. She, a good-hearted person, always smelled of alcohol.

“My parents, used to many lean Christmases, never had much Christmas spirit, so it probably was going to be a day pretty much like any other. I had no brothers or sisters at the time, so it probably was going to be kind of lonely as well as sparse.

“A very unlikely Christmas angel she was, but (the family friend) arrived on Christmas Eve, smelling of alcohol, with a beautiful doll dressed in pink. I can still see her face after all these years and remember her name, although she soon disappeared from our lives. She deserves to be remembered.”

Marilyn Burgess, Leeds

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