FW: Christmas Story

[Guest guest]

Merry Christmas!

> Christmas Story

>

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> A Christmas Story

>

> It's just a small, white envelope stuck among the branches of our

> Christmas

> tree. No name, no identification, no inscription. It has peeked

> through the

> branches of our tree for the past 10 years or so. It all began because

> my

> husband Mike hated Christmas. Oh, not the true meaning of Christmas,

> but the

> commercial aspects of it-overspending... the frantic running around at

> the

> last minute to get a tie for Uncle Harry and the dusting powder for

> Grandma---the gifts given in desperation cause you couldn't think of

> anything

> else. Knowing he felt this way, I decided one year to bypass the usual

> shirts,

> sweaters, ties and so forth. I reached for something special just for

> Mike.

> The inspiration came in an unusual way. Our son , who was 12 that

> year,

> was wrestling at the junior level at the school he attended; and shortly

> before Christmas, there was a non-league match against a team sponsored

> by an

> inner-city church, mostly black. These youngsters, dressed in sneakers

> so

> ragged that shoestrings seemed to be the only thing holding them

> together,

> presented a sharp contrast to our boys in their spiffy blue and gold

> uniforms

> and sparkling new wrestling shoes. As the match began, I was alarmed

> to see

> that the other team was wrestling without headgear, a kind of light

> helmet

> designed to protect a wrestler's ears. It was a luxury the ragtag team

> obviously could not afford. Well, we ended up walloping them. We took

> every

> weight class. And as each of their boys got up from the mat, he

> swaggered

> around in his tatters with false bravado, a kind of street pride that

> couldn't

> acknowledge defeat. Mike, seated beside me, shook his head sadly, " I

> wish

> just one of them could have won, " he said. " They have a lot of

> potential,

> but losing like this could take the heart right out of them. " Mike

> loved

> kids-all kids-and he knew them, having coached little league football,

> baseball and lacrosse. That's when the idea for his present came. That

> afternoon, I went to a local sporting goods store and bought an

> assortment of

> wrestling headgear and shoes and sent them anonymously to the inner-city

> church. On Christmas Eve, I placed the envelope on the tree, the note

> inside

> telling Mike what I had done and that this was his gift from me. His

> smile

> was the brightest thing about Christmas that year and in succeeding

> years. For

> each Christmas, I followed the tradition---one year sending a group of

> mentally handicapped youngsters to a hockey game, another year a check

> to a

> pair of elderly brothers whose home had burned to the ground the week

> before

> Christmas, and on and on. The envelope became the highlight of our

> Christmas.

> It was always the last thing opened on Christmas morning and our

> children,

> ignoring their new toys, would stand with wide-eyed anticipation as

> their dad

> lifted the envelope from the tree to reveal its contents. As the

> children

> grew, the toys gave way to more practical presents, but the envelope

> never

> lost its allure. The story doesn't end there. You see, we lost Mike

> last year

> due to dreaded cancer. When Christmas rolled around, I was still so

> wrapped

> in grief that I barely got the tree up. But Christmas Eve found me

> placing an

> envelope on the tree, and in the morning, it was joined by three more.

> Each of

> our children, unbeknownst to the others, had placed an envelope on the

> tree

> for their dad.

> The tradition has grown and someday will expand even further with our

> grandchildren standing around the tree with wide-eyed anticipation

> watching as

> their fathers take down the envelope. Mike's spirit, like the

> Christmas

> spirit, will always be with us.

>

> May we all remember Christ, who is the reason for the season, and the

> true

> Christmas spirit this year and always.

>

> God bless---pass this along to your friends and loved ones.

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