I don't think a Christmas has gone by in my adult life that I haven't thought about Seminary South in Ft. Worth. It was probably one of the first malls in the DFW area and we shopped there a lot when we lived in Joshua and Cleburne.
In my memory it was a kid's paradise. My mom could pretty much always be found in Sears so the rest of us were on our own and free to roam the stores and outdoor sidewalks. Murphy's was the place to browse all the "neat" stuff and dream about how to spend whatever money I might have had at the time. Most of the stores had escalators to basements and that was definitely a source of entertainment.
Spencers probably should've been banned from our sphere of discovery and exploration but I'm not sure Mom and Dad even knew what was there. I can remember walking slowly through being absolutely shocked and mesmerized by the shelves of naughtiness.
We didn't go down to the Striplings end of the mall much. That was considered upscale and I'm sure my mom thought Sears was more affordable for our big family.
Throughout my childhood I remember my five siblings and I would exchange gifts at Christmas. I don't know where we got the money or how much any of us had to spend but somehow I was able to buy five gifts and Seminary South was where I remember doing it with what must surely have been meager funds.
Usually on Christmas Eve before I was a teenager, we'd travel to Dallas to celebrate with Dad's family and exchange gifts. It might have happened several times but I remember one particular Christmas Eve when we were on our way back home from Dallas we stopped at Seminary South. I even kind of remember not having a clue why we were stopping but I'm sure my mom had a few last minute things to get. I mostly remember daylight when shopping at SS but this particular time it was late...and dark. There was a sense of excitement because of that and because Santa would arrive at our house soon. As we were walking through the outside area between the stores I saw a man laying on a bench. I don't know why this stuck in my head but I remember feeling sad because he was there. I don't think it occurred to me that he might be "homeless". I don't think I even knew that word then. But I was sad because he didn't have anything better to do when there was family to be with, warm homes to be in, and Christmas Eve to fully experience.
I'm not sure when Seminary South changed because we didn't go there after we moved to Whitesboro. But eventually it became a regular indoor mall and now I think it's a Mexican shopping area. Now that the outdoor mall idea is becoming so popular I sure wish somebody would've had the insight to keep SS the way it was. I'm sure it would be a hot spot in all it's vintage glory......boy, I'm old!
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