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Montiel never surprised by Santas gift, but never disappointed either
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Arnita Montiel, right, and her niece Charlene Elliott Carroll at Brock Elliott Elementary in Manteca. The school was named after Montiels nephew and Carrolls late brother, the first Manteca soldier killed in the Vietnam War. - photo by ROSE ALBANO RISSO

Every year for Christmas Arnita Montiel got the exact same gift. 

A doll. 

And that was OK. For her and her sister, they looked forward to tearing open that box that Santa left under the tree and finding something that they knew was already going to be there because they were always different even though they were always the same. 

That’s just the way that things were back then. Her brother got a pocket knife and the girls got dolls. 

“We each got one gift and that was enough for us,” Montiel said. “This was a time when we were able to go outside and play and nobody complained. When we played inside we did things to keep ourselves occupied and that’s why the dolls were good for us. I remember that fondly.”

A lifelong Lathrop resident, Montiel’s family did things a little bit differently when it came to the annual Christmas gift opening session. 

On Christmas Eve – instead of Christmas morning – she and her siblings would be ushered into a back room when Santa Claus and his sleigh would be spotted nearby. While there they would hear a hearty “ho ho ho” as bells were shaking in the living room and her father had a conversation with the man in the red suit. 

Naturally the anticipation level grew in the young children. 

And when he finally left and the sound of the bells faded away, they’d be let out of the room and out to the presents that he left behind. Even though they were always the same the experience was something that she looked forward to all year long. 

“Daddy would shake those bells and we’d get so excited because Santa was right there in our house,” she said. “As a little kid that’s what you think of all year long. And the night finally came and there we were and we could hear him talking to Daddy and that was everything to us.”

The times, back then, were much different. 

Montiel and her siblings would often ride the train from Lathrop into Manteca to catch a movie at the El Rey and cap the day off with ice cream at the Manteca Creamery before walking all the way back to Lathrop along the same railroad tracks that are still operational today. 

She can’t imagine kids being able to do that nowadays, but looks back on those experiences fondly. 

“The little things mattered to you, and getting to go see a movie and get ice cream was a real treat,” Montiel said. “Times are different now. We didn’t have video games and television. And I miss those Christmases too.”