Many years ago, when I lived in Cincinnati, I had the opportunity to participate in a "Christmas Miracle" for a family who desperately needed it and oh, did we have a blast!
There was a mother and father with 9 kids and the oldest girl was pregnant. The father died in October of a heart attack. In November, as the family was trying to prepare for some sort of Christmas for the children, their house burned down. In the panic of trying to get all the children out of the burning building, the mom fell down the stairs and broke her back.
So the city helped them relocate and they got settled in the house found for them. The mom was in a wheelchair and her unmarried sister came to live with the family to help them out. The daughter had the baby and all was well with that.
But these people had nothing, absolutely nothing to make Christmas with.
So my older sister organized a plan. Someone delivered a huge Christmas
tree with all the trimmings, and oh, did the little ones get excited about that!
My sister went to the grocery store and bought enough food to last for ages, everything imaginable for a large family to feast on. My boss gave me a gigantic fruit basket that we filled with delights.
So they had the
tree and the food arrived a few days ahead so they could begin cooking and baking.
Meanwhile, we made stockings for everyone in the house and shopped til we dropped. On Christmas Eve, my then-husband and I visited the family, not letting on to the kids that there were gifts in the car for them. We just had a nice Christmas Eveish visit. Then the kids went to bed wondering if Santa would remember them that year, be able to find them in the new place or what? We assured them that we pretty much thought he would.
After all the kids were upstairs, we hauled in all the loot and hung those stockings jammed with stuff. I tell you, I have never seen so many stockings hung by a chimney with care! It was awesome!
It was late by the time we got out of there, but in all the years since I have always wished I could have been a fly on the wall in that house on Christmas morning. Those kids had to have been thrilled beyond imagination because they KNEW mom didn't have two dimes to rub together and they KNEW they went to bed with no gifts waiting.
And I so loved it that it wasn't accomplished by one person....many people hearing the story got involved in the surprise and with each of us doing our part, we pulled off something really swell that no one could have done single-handedly.
Don't cha just love Christmas?!
Merme
