Author |
Message |
Karen
Member
09-07-2004
| Saturday, December 15, 2007 - 4:29 pm
It's that time of year. Family, traditions, gifts, gluttony. I saw a post over in the Caring thread that got me thinking about the 'behind the scenes' stuff that goes on during this time of year. The little miracles that the spirit of the season brings. The times when you realize that it's the giving that really matters. My 12th Christmas, my Mum was in a bad place. Dad had just left, Mum was quite ill, and there was no money to be had for Xmas that year. Mum pawned some jewelery to get enough cash to buy us each something small, but we all understood that there would be no stockings that year. No mountains of gifts. No turkey dinner. No stuffing. No cranberry sauce and gravy and brussel sprouts. Us kids... we would've been 14, 12, and 8, and we mostly understood. Christmas Eve, about 8pm, we hear a knock on the door. Mum got up to answer the door, but there was no one there. Just a cardboard box on the porch with a turkey, a pumpkin pie, all the veggies for trimmings, and a $100 gift card to Zellers. To this day, we have absolutely no idea who left it there for us. But every Christmas, I promise you, I think back to that day, the day I fully realized what exactly Christmas means. Anyone else have a good story?
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Heyltslori
Moderator
09-15-2001
| Saturday, December 15, 2007 - 4:47 pm
That's a wonderful story Karen. Great thread idea!
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Kstme
Member
08-14-2000
| Saturday, December 15, 2007 - 5:15 pm
Karen, your story gave me goosebumps...in a very positive way. How incredibly kind of your Secret Santa.
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Mameblanche
Member
08-24-2002
| Saturday, December 15, 2007 - 5:36 pm
Karen, that truly is a heartwarming story, thank you for sharing and starting this thread. 
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Karen
Member
09-07-2004
| Wednesday, December 19, 2007 - 3:21 am
Thanks, guys. I was sorta hoping others would have a good story about Christmas cheer, too... (hint, hint...)
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Twiggyish
Member
08-14-2000
| Wednesday, December 19, 2007 - 4:50 am
How sweet! I have a story that my grandma used to tell me. When my grandma was a little girl, she was very poor. Her mother was a widow, and there was only enough money for food. Well, they had a neighbor named Mrs. Kelly, for whom my great grandmother would do her ironing. One Christmas grandma dearly wanted a pair of red shoes. When she woke up on Christmas day, the shoes were there! Mrs. Kelly bought the shoes for her. Grandma said that was one of the BEST Christmas's ever for her.
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Mameblanche
Member
08-24-2002
| Wednesday, December 19, 2007 - 12:49 pm
Awww Twiggsy, that's an adorable story! Karen, I'm trying to come up with one for ya... Okay not sure where this lands on the heartwarming scale, but its a true Christmas Adventure story that happened to me. I used to travel from Montreal by Greyhound Bus to Boston to visit Daddy, Uncle Vic, and Granny for Christmas. Well one year, when I was about 13 years old, on the way home to Montreal, at the end of the holidays, there was a huge blizzard. We were going nowhere til the storm stopped. So there I was stuck in the middle of nowheresville in a caravan of stranded Greyhound busses on the highway. This was way before cellphones, and so mom and dad in their respective cities, were panicking and worried about their baby. Meanwhile... I had a blast. Someone on the bus commented that it was too bad nobody had any playing cards with them. I piped up that I did. I had a pack of those teensy miniature cards that are about the size of my thumb, with a white kitten on a pink background. LOL. So I basically saved the day, and they taught me to play poker, and a fine time was had by all - thanks to me! It was a holiday excursion to remember. And I still have those cards on my knicknack shelf. 
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Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Wednesday, December 19, 2007 - 1:06 pm
I have a story. When I was in 5th grade one of my classmates that I'd gone to school with was a boy named Alex. He had 3 sisters and a brother who all went to the same school. The week before Christmas break, our teacher started class by telling us she had something important to talk to us about. Alex's house had burned down the night before (faulty tree lights) and they'd lost everything. While one of the parents was injured after getting the kids out of the house, broke an arm trying to climb out the window, no one was seriously hurt or killed. We would make cards later for Alex and his family. That was the whole conversation. At that time around here, everyone had a parent working in aerospace and back then it was a feast or famine type of situation. When there was work, things were great for everyone and when there wasn't you were standing in line for government cheese and shopping for school clothes at goodwill. This was one of the bad years for everyone and it was a lean Christmas anyways for most people and to lose the little you had would be just devestating (not that it wouldn't have been just as devestating if things were good either though.) Sis and I went home and told mom and step dad about Alex's family. We talked about how sad we were that not only wouldn't they have Christmas but now they didn't have a home or clothes or toys and what could we do? While sis and I went in our room to search for toys and clothes we could give to them, mom and step dad discussed how much they could afford to give the parents. Next morning we asked if they could get us in touch with the family and my teacher asked us to wait. When school started, she sat down on the edge of her desk, said she had something to talk to us about and burst out in tears. She then explained that once word spread through the school and the families of the school, they were flooded with calls asking how to get in touch with the family. Parents were donating what money they could, kids were breaking into piggy banks and taking presents from under their own tree and rewrapping them for the family, food, clothes, and toys. I remember going into the cafeteria to drop our bags off and feeling so proud of the whole school at all they'd done for Alex and his family and totally understood then my teacher crying that morning. I'll never forget the look on Alex's face his first day back to school when he went through class hugging everyone or the even bigger grin a few weeks later when he announced one of the kids parents in our school owned an apartment building and had offered the family an apt rent free until they got back on their feet and they'd be moving into their new home that weekend. I can say that was a lesson that never could have been taught except through experience! No matter how rough you have it, someone else always has it rougher and any little bit you can do will help.
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Mameblanche
Member
08-24-2002
| Wednesday, December 19, 2007 - 1:16 pm
War, your story pretty much sums up the spirit of Christmas, doesn't it? Wow. Uber-heartwarming, IMHO.
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Karen
Member
09-07-2004
| Wednesday, December 19, 2007 - 1:18 pm
Awww, War, that's perfect! Mame, I got a chuckle out of the image of you on the Greyhound with those itty-bitty playing cards. Teaching you poker at 13. Yowza!!
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Mameblanche
Member
08-24-2002
| Wednesday, December 19, 2007 - 1:57 pm
Karen, the thing is that I promptly forgot how to play cuz at that time nobody else I knew played poker!!! Ironic that a billion years later my dh loves the game.
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Biscottiii
Member
05-29-2004
| Wednesday, December 26, 2007 - 12:53 am
Juju posted this the other day in "How's the Weather". I think a copy belongs here, as well. Juju2bigdog - Sunday, December 23, 2007 - 8:15 am "Cold down here in the tropical tip of Texas, but I was just reading about all the highway pileups from yesterday. 50+ car pileup on I-40 in NW Texas, 30 car pileup on I-70 in Kansas, 40 car pileup on I-29 in Missouri. Lots of families on the road for Christmas yesterday. News article said many in the pileups were not dressed for the weather and that other travelers were unwrapping presents to dress the kids without enough clothes." Bisc here: Now THAT is what I call the true Christmas Spirit! When strangers worry more about OTHER peoples' kids being warm & safe, rather than the piles of presents under their OWN Christmas trees. THAT mental picture just touched my heart and still does!
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Biscottiii
Member
05-29-2004
| Wednesday, December 26, 2007 - 12:58 am
Mames, your miniature Poker Card tourney was a hoot! You little 'potential card shark' you! Ahem, I meant 'scrabble shark' lol. No WONDER Vin knew you were the gal for him!
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Mameblanche
Member
08-24-2002
| Wednesday, December 26, 2007 - 1:13 am
Aw blush.
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Biscottiii
Member
05-29-2004
| Wednesday, December 26, 2007 - 3:26 am
Guess I will add a story of one of the BEST Christmas presents I ever received. Yesterday morning, one of the "Ghosts of Christmas Past" came to give me a giggle! --- Back around 1987, my Sister from Phoenix had divorced her husband & brought her two young daughters up to live here in W. Seattle not far from my apt. Struggling as a single Mom, Sis was having to work so hard for meager wages. The Dad was a good man (best brother-in-law, I loved him dearly) but the kids knew Daddy had plenty of money, while Mom was struggling. He was paying child support, but the kids were used to the 'silver spoons' in their mouths since birth. So, that Christmas I told Sis and the kids that I didn't need anything. BUT, one super present they COULD all give me was a couple of hours of their time. I wanted to go Christmas Caroling! With them! We had never done it together before. They agreed (well, the nieces yammered a bit, but then they figured it might be kind of okay, it was after all their first Christmas in cold weather). Hit up all my male friends (hey, we needed some tenors and baritones for this shindig). I went out to a costume supply house near work and picked up some inexpensive top hats @ $1.50 each, gotta look the part. No takers, having problems finding me a man. Finally muscled one guy friend who owed me a favor and he reluctantly agreed, since he lived not far. I dug out all the scarves and woolie hats from my winter stuff (including the Pirates of the Caribbean hat with tassels hanging I bought back at a trip to Disneyland years before) for us girls to wear. Made copies of Christmas songs into mini-books to hold, roped bells together from the ornaments. YES! We were going to look like something out of a Dickens novel. OK, there were just the 5 of us, so I told the kids that it didn't matter what we sounded like, just sing LOUD and ring them bells! Now, to figure out WHOM to inflict this magic of Christmas upon? Opps! That part I hadn't figured out, most people were out doing their shopping at 6p.m. Turned out Sis had a coworker friend who lived a couple of blocks away. Just released from alcohol rehab, so likely to be home, too broke to be out shopping. So, we headed over and proceeded to sing mightily. She was so EXCITED, she stuck her head out her window and yelled "Stay There, Stay There!" She pulled on her fleecy housecoat over her p.j.s and her boots and came running down to us on the sidewalk to join in. Yep, we ALL stood there with her caroling several more songs up to her 3rd floor EMPTY window. (Saw a couple of other tenants in different apts peering down at us, so at least we had some audience.) When we got ready to leave, trying to figure out some new target, my One-Lone-Tenor-Guy was now getting into the spirit and REALLY excited. HEY Hey, you have to come to MY house! What the heck, he only lived a couple miles so we jumped in the cars. Turned out, once we got there, he had Senior Citizens galore! He had only lived there a short time so he didn't know actually his neighbors yet. We worked BOTH sides of his block. Little elderly people came out to stand on their porches to see us in their front yards (if their lights were on, they were a candidate). Some were in tears, standing there listening. One couple said "We don't know you, can we give you a Tip?" My Sis, never at a loss for words, said "Oh no, this is our Christmas present to YOU!" Who could have guessed that one Christmas present could be so powerful!!! PS-Yeah, I told my One-Lone-Tenor-Guy he could keep his top hat and every time I ran into him before Christmas, he was still wearing it. --- OK, to explain the "Christmas Past" part. Yesterday, Christmas Day I woke up to find 1-1/2 inches of snow that they hadn't forecasted. Talked to my Sis in Phx (yes, she had moved back and eventually remarried her ex-). Sis told me that her daughter (the younger one) called this morning from her home near Portland. "Mom, Mom it's snowing! I haven't had a White Christmas SINCE 4TH GRADE!" Oh yes, Aunt Bisc remembers, that was the same year of my best Christmas Present EVER! I still wear my Pirates of the Caribbean hat with pride.
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Cinnamongirl
Member
01-10-2001
| Wednesday, December 26, 2007 - 1:34 pm
Awww Great story Biscottiii!! You did good and how great that they are remarried. very sweet!
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Mameblanche
Member
08-24-2002
| Wednesday, December 26, 2007 - 1:45 pm
Bisc your story made me chuckle bigtime. What a creative gift-from-the-heart!!!
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Biscottiii
Member
05-29-2004
| Thursday, December 27, 2007 - 11:29 pm
Thanks Cinnamongirl and Mames! Yes, Sis took care of both his Mother and him until they died. He left us about 4 years ago, but he was always the best friend she ever had. We all miss him terribly, he always seemed more like a Brother than a BIL! Felt so good, remembering that evening, what fun we had! Sis got me a digital camera this Christmas, so maybe when I can figure out how to set it up I can test it on the Pirates of the Caribbean hat, it looks so Dickens era.
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Chy
Member
07-19-2003
| Friday, December 28, 2007 - 11:38 pm
Thank you all for stories so warm! I laughed(mini cards w/white kitty)and I cried! I'm so touched by all these. I have been celebrating Christmas since I was 6 y.o.(my parente said they lost me ever since they handed me over to the yellow-haired-blue-eyed!) The nuns and priests always organize us to collect presents in each classroom. Being a member of the chior, I had the privilege to accompany all the goodies to Orphanages and Nursing Homes. We will sing for/with them, make tree ornaments together and share sweets and such. That was the norm of my Christmas. Imagine my surprise when I figured out the other part of the Season in this part of the world! I didn't know we were supposed to gift every one -- DH and I moved back during our second yr of marriage to his birthplace. Where all full dozen of his aunts & uncles and most of the countless cousins are still living! Especially those seemed to have so much more than we do(Because they gave "good" gifts to us and our #1DD)! The in-laws finally all had agreements not to worry about each other. In the recent years I have finally gotten my DDs involved with the Giving Tree in our church. We still feel bad now and then that we can't give our kids everything they want. But it's getting a lot easier now when we see how they could be "giving" on their own! I was actually wandering around Clubhouse trying to ask some of you to join me to spread some Chinese New Year joy to some Chinese Minority children out West and Southwest of China! You all know that I've made some "friends" in China since we were digging around for Survivor. One lady who actually worked for --- had posted/send requests for her "friends" to collect used but clean coats, hats, sweaters, gloves and warm socks for children from one to eighteen. She posted school address, mail box and phone numbers for various small villages. Only a couple of them are near ZL area, many are near the Desert out West. I really like to help, but also don't think it makes sense for me to send packages that will cost too much to send! I said I could commit US$100 of my own. There's a few schools that would like to have sports equipments, any type of balls , any books, book-bags or school supplies! They don't even care if things were used. ((But won't it be great to get some brand new balls and bats there!)) I know that lady is really busy. But I'm looking to see if I could find someone responsible, like a whole club of High School students or a whole parish, on that end to help. What do you guys think? I'm going to ask in my not so big church --- I collected $600 that year for the Earth quack refugees. I will ask friends in RL as well. But as I said, the only friends I share reality shows with are people on line! What do you all think? Would it be too forward of me to ask in this kind of a place? I'll wait for some reactions before my next move. As far as I can see, these are real needy people. The teachers asking never asked for cash. The only things the teachers ask for themselves, are used computers, English-Chinese dictionaries and English-teaching "cassette's"(Not CDs?). (I learned my English with a box of 75 called English 900! I remember counting out loud how many of the 900 sentences I learned.... ) Please advice! Of course if some one reading could provide a whole empty cargo box/trunk(what are they called?) for shipping, I will be happy to go around and collect used stuff... One year some one in our church did that. We collected lots and lots of clothing. More importantly, bicycles, sewing machines alike that do not need electricity or gasoline to operate. They were sent to rural area in South America, I forgot which country! That took six months or so to get ready though. Chinese New Year will be here Feb. 7th this 2008....
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Biscottiii
Member
05-29-2004
| Saturday, December 29, 2007 - 1:01 am
Hey Chy, I'm game! I found that I'm supposed to receive $25 back from some Visa credit card lawsuit, due from some international purchases I made years back. Unexpected. So, what the heck? Seems like YOUR quest is pretty "international" as well. And you clearly think it's a legitimate request or you wouldn't be asking IMO. If you will PM me (from my profile) with your address and name (that the money order should be drafted to), next week when I run errands I will send you a $25 money order. I agree that the high cost of postage might be over the top, might spend more in postage than the cost of the items. Happy New Years!
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Chy
Member
07-19-2003
| Saturday, December 29, 2007 - 12:16 pm
HI Bisc! Thank you so much for the support! As I said, the message I got (in Chinese of course!) never asked for money or even new things too much. And I did checked out the Non-profit Chinese Org. behind it. I am wondering if some people would just feel more comfortable sending money there? My original thought was to help people who gave us fun this past season, to help children of their choices. That seemed to be more personal than a check to an organization. But, in this day and age, I probably shouldn't bother to collect money this way. What do you think?? Please hold on to your money yet. I may just post the web site of the NPO instead. But Bisc, THANK YOU and Happy New Year to you, too! 
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Biscottiii
Member
05-29-2004
| Saturday, December 29, 2007 - 10:08 pm
Makes sense Chy! You have a good heart 
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