This story was sent to me by my dear e-friend Claude. We have never met in person, and happened to meet on line through a series of unfortunate - and fortunate events, which proves that out of sadness can come happiness. It is a true story, and even without meeting Claude in person, I can see him doing this - it is a sweet, wonderful story about the true spirit of Christmas. His comments are included. Enjoy . . .
THANK YOU BARBARA, IT PUT TEARS IN MY EYES WITH MEMORIES OF A CHRISTMAS I
HAD 25 OR 30 YEARS AGO.. I'LL TELL YOU ABOUT IT SOMETIME.. GOT YOUR
CHRISTMAS CARD TODAY, IT IS A BEAUTIFUL SIGHT !! THANK YOU FOR IT ALSO... CLAUDE
ONE CHRISTMAS ABOUT 25 OR 30 YEARS AGO
ON A CHRISTMAS EVE A LONG TIME AGO, THIS STORY BEGAN: USUALLY ON CHRISTMAS EVE TRIO TV CLOSED ABOUT 1 OR 2 IN THE AFTERNOON. THIS PARTICULAR CHRISTMAS EVE WE HAD MORE CALLS TO MAKE THAN USUAL. I DID NOT GET THROUGH UNTIL AROUND 5 O'CLOCK OR SO. WHEN I DID GET HOME LAURA WAS MAD AS COULD BE AT ME FOR NOT BEING OFF EARLY! JUST LIKE IT WAS ALL MY FAULT, AS MOST THINGS THAT WENT WRONG USUALLY SEEMED TO BE IN THOSE DAYS. I LET HER CARRY ON FOR A WHILE AND I FINALLY TOLD HER TO BE QUIET AND LISTEN TO ME AND AFTER A LITTLE WHILE SHE DID. AND STANDING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE LIVING ROOM FLOOR, SHE SAID "WELL, GO ON WHAT IS YOUR EXCUSE?"
I TOLD HER HOW THE DAY HAD BEEN SO MUCH BUSIER THAN MOST CHRISTMASES. THEN I TOLD HER ABOUT THE LAST CALL I HAD MADE. IT WENT LIKE THIS:
I HAD AN ELDERLY BLACK LADY FOR A CUSTOMER FOR A LOT OF YEARS. SHE LIVED IN THE LITTLE, ALL BLACK COMMUNITY OF KINLOCH. TODAY HER TV HAD GONE OUT AND COULD I COME BY AND SEE HOW MUCH IT WOULD COST TO FIX. SO I TOLD HER SURE, I WOULD BE BY AFTER I HAD FINISHED ALL THE OTHER STUFF I HAD. I KNEW THAT SHE DID NOT HAVE ANYTHING AND THAT THIS WOULD BE "ON THE HOUSE" (I HAD SEVERAL CUSTOMERS LIKE THAT, ALL OF THEM ELDERLY BLACK PEOPLE).
THIS OLD LADY PUBLISHED A LITTLE 4 PAGE LOCAL NEWSPAPER, SHE BARELY KEPT HER EYES ABOVE WATER WITH THAT. SO I WENT BY ABOUT 4PM, AND I GET TO HER LITTLE SHACK AND BECAUSE OF THE COLD SHE HAD NEWSPAPER OVER THE WINDOWS AND BLANKETS OVER THE DOORWAYS AND IT WAS DARK INSIDE. SHE LETS ME IN AND I CAN BARELY SEE TO GET AROUND. AS ALWAYS SHE APOLOGIZES FOR THE CONDITION OF THE PLACE, AND EXPLAINS THAT SHE JUST DOES NOT HAVE THE MEANS TO LIVE ANY BETTER. IT WAS COLD INSIDE THE HOUSE TOO, NO HEAT ON. THE OLD LADY IS WEARING A HEAVY COAT AND GLOVES TO STAY WARM. THIS CHRISTMAS SHE HAS A GRAND DAUGHTER LIVING WITH HER, 6 YEARS OLD, THE LITTLE GIRL IS IN BED TO STAY WARM. I CANNOT REMEMBER THEIR NAMES TO SAVE MY NECK, I REMEMBERED FOR MANY YEARS. SHE CALLS THE LITTLE GIRL OUT TO MEET "MR. CLAUDE". SHE COMES OUT AND WITH THE BIGGEST AND SHYEST GRIN YOU EVER SAW COMES OVER TO ME AND HUGS ME AROUND THE LEGS. IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL, HOW SHE TOOK TO ME. AFTER A WHILE, SHE ASKED ME IF SHE COULD GO BACK TO BED "IT'S TOO COLD OUT HERE". OF COURSE I TOLD HER TO GO BACK. AND SHE DID.
HERE IT WAS CHRISTMAS EVE AND THERE IS NO SIGN OF CHRISTMAS AROUND. AND AS IF SHE KNEW WHAT I WAS THINKING, THE OLD LADY CAME BACK IN THE ROOM AND TOLD ME THAT THERE WAS NO MONEY FOR ANY CHRISTMAS! THIS CHILD HAD BEEN TAKEN AWAY FROM IT MOTHER AND HAD BEEN GIVEN TO THE GRANDMOTHER. I AM NOT SURE ANYMORE, BUT I THINK THE GIRL WAS ILLEGITIMATE. I GOT THE TV FIXED AND SHE ASKED "HOW MUCH?" YOU KNOW HOW I REACTED TO THAT – “NO IT'S NOT MUCH - NO CHARGE.”
AND I WAS SO SADDENED BY THE PLIGHT OF THESE TWO,AS I AM DRIVING ON HOME, HARDLY ABLE TO SEE THE STREETS FOR THE TEARS. I GET HOME AND AM GOING TO TELL LAURA ABOUT IT AND THEN SHE IS SPITTING FIRE WHEN I LET MYSELF IN THE HOUSE. AFTER I TELL LAURA MY STORY, SHE SAYS "WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING FOR THEM". I HAD ALREADY DECIDED THAT.
SO WE BEGAN OUR CHRISTMAS HUNT. LAURA HAD MADE A CHRISTMAS TREE OUT OF STYROFOAM BALLS ABOUT 4 IN. IN DIAMETER, WITH TOOTH PICKS STUCK IN THEM AND THEN SPRAYED WITH WHITE PAINT AND SPARKLES SPRINKLED ON IT WAS ABOUT 12 INCHES TALL. THAT WAS THE FIRST ITEM. THEN WE WENT DOWNTON IN FERGUSON TO SEE WHAT WE COULD FIND... AT GASEN'S DRUG STORE WE GOT A FEW TOYS AND LO AND BEHOLD THERE WAS A LITTLE BLACK BABY DOLL ABOUT 10 OR 12 INCHES LONG. THE ONLY DOLL LEFT IN THE PLACE, WE GOT IT. THEN WENT TO THE GROCERY STORE TO SEE WHAT WE COULD FIND. WE GOT SOME APPLES AND ORANGES AND TANGERENES AND SOME CHRISTMAS CANDY. WE GOT THE INGREDIENTS FOR A CHRISTMAS DINNER AND WE WENT HOME WITH OUR TREASURE, AT LEAST IT WOULD BE TO THEM. BY THEN IT WAS ABOUT 8 PM AND WE HAD TWO HUNGRY BOYS AT HOME TO FEED. SO WE ATE AND AFTER PRESENT OPENING, WENT TO BED.
CHRISTMAS WAS ON A SUNDAY THAT YEAR. LAURA AND I GOT UP AND LOADED UP OUR "CHRISTMAS STUFF" AND HEADED OUT TO KINLOCH. WE GET TO THE HOUSE AND LO AND BEHOLD THERE IS SMOKE COMING OUT OF THE CHIMNEY!!! WE KNOCK AND GET INSIDE WITH OUR BOXES AND BAGS, AND BEFORE WE CAN UNDO ANYTHING THE OLD LADY LEADS US OUT THE BACK DOOR TO SHOW US HER COAL PILE. SOME ONE HAD DELIVERED A TON OF COAL TO HER IN THE DARK RIGHT AFTER LAURA AND I HAD LEFT THE DAY BEFORE. WHAT A MIRACLE!! AND SHE DID NOT KNOW WHERE OR WHO IT CAME FROM. WE WENT BACK IN AND UNDID "OUR CHRISTMAS" AND SPREAD IT OUT. AS WE DID SO IT WAS SOMETHING TO WATCH THAT LITTLE GIRL WATCH US IN OPEN MOUTHED WONDER, SET ALL THIS OUT. AND THAT LITTLE SPINY LOOKING TREE SEEMED TO ATTRACT HER MORE THAN ANYTHING, UNTIL WE STARTED GETTING HER PRESENTS OUT. AND SHE WAS JUST JUMPING FOR JOY BY THE TIME WE GOT THROUGH. IT WAS SOMETHING TO SEE THAT CHILD SO VERY HAPPY, WITH WHAT VERY LIKELY HER FIRST REAL CHRISTMAS IN HER LIFE. AND NOT ONCE DID SHE SAY "IS THAT ALL?" SHE WAS JUST SO VERY HAPPY, AND SO WAS EVERYONE ELSE!
GRANDMA COMES OUTSIDE WITH US AS WE LEAVE AND TRIES TO THANK US, BUT WITH ALL THE HAPPINESS THAT WE ALL FELT AND THE TEARS THAT WERE BEING SHED, I DON'T KNOW IF ANY THANK YOU'S WE ACTUALLY PUT INTO WORDS OR NOT.
THE WEATHER THAT CHRISTMAS WAS VERY COLD AND THERE WAS SEVERAL INCHES OF SNOW IN THE GROUND AND IT WAS A SUNNY DAY AND WINDY, I REMEMBER. BUT IT SURE FELT WARMER LEAVING THAN IT HAD WHEN WE WENT IN. AND I STILL THINK THAT WAS ONE OF THE BEST CHRISTMASES I EVER HAD.
I KEPT UP WITH THAT LITTLE GIRL FOR A LOT OF YEARS, THROUGH HER HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION, HER COLLEGE FULL SCHOLARSHIP, FROM MACDONNELL AIRCRAFT CO, AND THE LAST I HEARD SHE WAS TEACHING SCHOOL IN DETROIT. I DON'T HAVE ANY WAY OF KNOWING, BUT I LIKE TO THINK THAT WHAT WE DID THAT CHRISTMAS MAY HAVE BEEN A TURNING POINT IN HER LIFE AND SENT HER IN THE RIGHT DIRECION. OF COURSE THAT IS JUST BRAGGING A LITTLE, OF COURSE I HAVE NO WAY OF KNOWING.
THAT IS THE WAY IT HAPPENED. I DON'T THINK THAT I HAVE TOLD THIS STORY TO BUT ONE OTHER PERSON. THAT WAS NICOLE, SOME TIME AGO.
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