CHRISTMAS IN DIXIE

CHRISTMAS IN DIXIE

"Christmas in Dixie" by the group Alabama is my favorite Christmas song. I was 20 years old when it hit the airwaves. Hearing Randy Owen sing about life in the south during Christmas time made me feel proud. That song gave me chill bumps and still does. Even though I live on another planet called Alaska, I'm still a "good ole boy" from Kosciusko, Mississippi.

I was married to my high school sweetheart Bonnie Regina when that song was a hit. She was 4'11 and weighed 89lbs. I say that because I'm nearly 6'2 and at the time 250lbs. We were Mutt and Jeff. She was a pretty little girl, blonde hair and big green eyes. I was 15, she was 17 and we eloped with the help of my Dad.

The night she graduated from high school, she walked across the stage and picked up her diploma then walked out the back door and into the bed of my chevy luv pickup. I covered her with a quilt and drove away in the night heading for Jasper, Alabama. That was the closest place where you could be 15 years old and get married with a parents consent. My Dad, God rest his soul...was there to sign those papers for his baby son.

I know what you're thinking.... this has got to be the biggest hillbilly family on the planet and you may be half right, but another reason we did it that way is because her father had been sexually abusing her for the past 5 years and getting married was the only way we saw to break the ties that bind.

Her father hated me with a passion. In the 3 years Bonnie and I had snuck around to see one another, not once did he ever allow or approve of us being together. She had to be home by 10:00pm Friday and Saturday nights and was never allowed to talk on the phone or go anywhere during the week without her dad.

He was doing very bad things to her, it all started after her mother ran off with another man and left the kids with their father. He "replaced" his wife with his 12 year old daughter and I had to help her get away from the sadness.

We were happy I thought after 5 years of being together. I was working at night at a local radio station and going to barber college in the day time, just trying to build a life. I would come home after work at the radio station at 10:30pm and my friend Mike would be at the house, hanging out like we always had for the last 5 years or so. We'd sit around, smoke a little weed, watch a movie, whatever. We were great friends.

One day I'm at barber college and the phone rings, it's my brother John telling me I better come home fast! He said he drove by the house and saw Bonnie and Mike loading up our furniture in his truck and wasn't sure if I was moving or what. So I jump in my car and head the 25 miles down Highway 35 to Kosciusko.

Just as I pull up to the house I pass Mike's truck and see Bonnie scoot down in the seat so I wouldn't be able to see her. I'm confused. I pull in the driveway and walk in the house and it's empty.

Mike and Bonnie had been seeing one another while I was at work for 6 months and I never suspected a thing. She was gone.

From Christmas in Dixie to a young man's broken heart. I started to tell you what Christmas time meant to me as a southern boy when Alabama came out with that song and I ended up telling you how my first love ended. This just goes to prove that music can take you anywhere and sometimes to places you almost forgot. Thank you Alabama for taking me on a trip tonight, keeping my memories alive of my "Christmas in Dixie".

Merry Christmas

Joe