Once Upon a Christmas
Many years ago
now, when I was in grade school, I had a very exciting Christmas. I
have a sister, named Mary. She seemed to have it as her goal, to make
life special for us younger kids. She would take me to buy clothes
sometimes...just the two of us. One time she made me a dress. Another
time she taught me how to make a garden. It was a pansy garden. I
loved that garden, not just for the pansies, but for the warm feeling
in my heart that I got when I thought about my sister, spending time
with me. Back to the exciting Christmas...Mary took my sister Pauline
and I to the store and we got corderoy fabric and glitter. We also
got some Christmas balls that were covered with shiney thread and
some ribbon. When we got home, Mary showed us how to hang the balls
and tie the ribbon right above the ball. I thought it was the best
tree ever. Then, she showed us how to cut the corderoy into
stockings. She sewed them together. Then she showed us how to write
with glue and how to sprinkle the glitter on the glue just right so
that the stockings all had our names in sparkling glitter. I had
never seen such beautiful stockings.
A few months
ago, I mentioned those stockings to my sister, Mary. I can't remember
her exact words...something to the effect of “Oh, those
stockings...they looked so bad”. Hmmm...How is it that she did not
know that those were the most beautiful stockings ever? In fact, I
loved those stockings so much that the first Christmas after I got
married, I bought enough corderoy to make stockings for not only my
husband and I, but for my future children and grandchildren as well.
Good thing, because I now have a grandson that needs a corderoy
stocking.
At this point in
my life, I have a lot of time to think and a lot of reason to think.
Life is pretty tenuous for me, so I think, “What can I do to effect
the lives of those around me? Not just for now, but for when I am no
longer here?” One thing that keeps coming to mind is that I need to
tell people about the difference they made in my life. I think there
are a lot of people who have no idea of how they have effected
people's lives. Since, realistically, none of us are going to have
an, “It's a Wonderful Life” experience to show us the difference
we make, we should let each other know. I think that maybe taking the
time to encourage people in this way could be a much nicer present,
than any present we will ever find under a Christmas tree.
So here's to
you, Mary...the sister who made me feel important. The sister who did
things with me. The sister who helped me repaint my bedroom, plant a
garden, cheered at my cross country meet. A sister who was an example
of who I wanted to be one day. I would not be the person I am today,
if not for her example of what it means to be a loving child of God.