Once Upon a Christmas

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.