Two Christmas stories, one short, one long, this is the long

When I reflect back on the many Christmas seasons I have been able to enjoy I am able to go all the way back in my memory to the time I was 5. It was a very difficult time for our family but being the tender age of 5 I was very much shielded and innocent in knowing the plight our family was in. At this time Dad was strongly affected by alcohol, we had recently moved back to Mancos from the Denver area and Dad was no longer in the military. It was Christmas time and the family was in a dire financial situation. Mom got us all organized and up to the town Christmas celebration where free bags of goodies were going to be given out to all attending children. I can't remember how the rest of the holiday played out, but I do know it became a time period Mom has said was the worst in her life.
As we got up to the area where all the activity was to take place there was a big buzz about Santa making a visit, which of course got me very excited, I was a 5 year old after all!! When the little bags of candy had been distributed Mom went and asked for a few extra bags and then told us all we were headed back home.
Headed back home? What was she thinking? Santa was supposed to be arriving shortly and she wanted to go back home? I pitched a fit and let her know that I was staying until Santa arrived. Little did I know that any of the gifts that Santa was going to be giving out were gifts that had already been purchased and put into Santa's sack by parents or other family members.
The only reason Mom had taken us there in the first place was to get some of those free bags of goodies because she knew that would be the only Christmas we would enjoy that year. We already had those goodies and she was all for getting away. I persisted in dragging my feet and killing time and I won out before Mom did, because Santa made his entrance before Mom could make her exit. Once every one else saw Santa, Mom was outvoted and all us Dean kids stood around waiting for Santa to hand out our presents....presents which didn't exist.
As the pile of presents finally dwindled down to nothing I and my siblings were the only ones left and I'm sure we had crushed looks on our faces. Mom must have been even more saddened at the scene than we were. I can remember her saying, "Now can we go home?" in an exasperated tone and we started to make our way towards the exit.
For my part I was so very confused. I knew I wasn't a perfect kid, but to not get anything at all from Santa???...Well, it just didn't seem right.
I saw Grandma Matlock coming towards us and she had a few words with Mom that I didn't hear.
Santa yelled out something to the effect..."Wait!!! Are the Dean children here? Santa must have left somethings out of his bag"
Our spirits perked up immediately and we did a quick turn around to ran back to Santa. He had several things in his hand that were not wrapped and called us by name handing each of us a different item. A pair of socks. A T-shirt. A pair of underwear....Hardly gifts that would excite a child, but still an offering that let us know we were not completely forgotten.
When I think of Grandma Matlock I always remember her, knowing she was the one who stepped in and did that last second shopping to save the Christmas trip to the town celebration....Merry Christmas

Two Christmas stories, one long, one short, this is the short

All three of our daughters took piano lessons and performed in different recitals through the years. Many recitals are especially arranged at Christmas time and the music adds to the holiday season. One particular year Brooke had a partner and she learned a lovely version of "What Child Is This", a Christmas song I truly do enjoy.
Wanting to encourage and expand her piano experience I arranged to have her play the song again as part of our church's Christmas program and talked Brooke into letting me be her partner for the performance. At the appointed time Brooke and I got up to the piano and started the number in a very positive and moving way. We were doing a wonderful job in adding a beautiful touch to the Christmas program, but then I went into wander mode. For what ever reason I looked away from the music for a brief second and when I looked back to the pages I lost track of where I was at....my playing stopped. I had to confess to Brooke I was lost and asked..."Where are we?"
Brooke gave me a sharp glare and replied, "You're dead meat!!"
She then pointed out the spot we should be at and we finished off the number without any other distractions still adding a nice touch to the Christmas program.
I still get a chuckle every time I reflect on that moment when I got that threat from my daughter during the holiday season....Merry Christmas

One more Christmas thought...my song

The time leading up to that last Christmas that Dennis was alive, was an emotional time for me. Doctors had said they didn't think he would even survive to see the holidays and in my mind I wanted to believe he would prove them wrong and make a complete recovery by returning to his previous normal lifestyle.
Still, the truth was, deep inside I was quite sure it was going to be his last Christmas so I wanted to do something special. I sat down and wrote the following poem for him and set it to music. At a later time I sang it for Roberta and when she heard it, she cried openly and said it was such a wonderful tribute. Now that Roberta has passed on as well I think of both her and Dennis each Christmas season and consider this to be their song.
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Once again its Christmas time
I can see you in my mind
Sitting by our Christmas tree
Pointing out your gift to me

I count those days as the best I ever knew...
Spending early Christmas days with you....

Now the years have passed us by
You have children, I have mine
When they ask about our home
Once again my thoughts they roam

I count those days as the best I ever knew...
Spending early Christmas days with you....

Oh yes, its Christmas time
And I still see you.......in my mind.....
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This Christmas season be sure and appreciate your loved ones. Let them know you care. We never know when it will be the last holiday we can spend with them....Merry Christmas to you all...my love to you as well

I had a mammogram....

One morning about 5 years ago I awoke to find a humongous blister on top of my right foot just at the beginning of my little toe. At first I had no worries about the ugly thing other than a curious wonder as to where it came from. I have enjoyed athletics all my life and have had many blisters before, but never one this big and never one on the top of my foot.Two days later the blister, if anything, had grown bigger, but of new concern to me was the fact I now had a pain in that little toe nearest the blister. Now that I was feeling some intense pain I decided it was time to go visit the doctor for an assessment as to whether I had something more seriousthan a blister.
Upon presenting my pained foot to the doc along with the growing blister, his initial assessment was that this was a ganglion cyst and asked if I had received a blow to my foot in the last several days, which I had not. This concerned the doctor a bit as it would have given him the cause for the sudden appearance of the big water sack that now resided on the top of my foot. To get a better idea of what he was looking at the doctor ordered me over to mammography to get a soft tissue x-ray of what he hoped was a ganglion cyst.I put my sock on over the foot and walked the several hundred feet over to mammography with the doctors orders in my hand. Immediately upon entering the recieving area I could see I was the only man in sight and most every eye was looking at me as I was very much out of place. Now it has always been my dream to find myself as the only man in a room full of lovely, vibrant women, but now that the dream was a reality I felt oh so uncomfortable. In my brain I imagined every woman there thought I must be a pervert looking for the backside view of an open hospital gown or a peek into an xray room if a door was open in the hopes of seeing some cleavage. When I produced the request for a mammography to the receptionist with the instruction to take a shot of my foot I could see she was stifling a snicker, but she proceeded to have me fill out paper work and took me to the proper room.The radiologist (a woman again) came in and asked me to take off my sock so she could have a look. Upon producing my foot with the humongous blister her comment was..."Well, I've seen some small boobs before, but that is definitely the smallest"
I wasn't sure if she was talking about the blister or the fact I was at the hospital for a minor ailment, but when she said..."The first one I've seen without a nipple" I knew she was talking about the blister.
They had to bring in a stool for me to stand on in order to get my foot high enough up into the equipment to get a shot of my foot. I now have a new appreciation for what that machine does to you ladies. I had to hold my foot up in the proper place as if I were practicing some karate stance.
Upon returning to the doc with my mammogram shots I was given the good news that indeed it was a ganglion cyst and it would probably go away as quick as it came...which it did.
Just as he was getting ready to pull the xray off the screen though, the doc did a double take..."You have a broken toe!!!" he exclaimed..."I can tell by the way you walk though, it doesn't bother you. When did you break your toe?"
I replied that it was waaaaaayyyyy back in high school to which he replied..."Well, it didn't heal back together as one bone...you now have two bones in your foot that only healed over on the ends..."
I got far more than I bargained for that day...the ganglion cyst is gone but my foot is still broken....it could only happen to me...

My day as bishop ( case of mistaken identity)

When my aunt died a few years back I was asked by her daughter (my cousin of course) to conduct and preside over her funeral, which I was honored to do. The funeral was in another state so I showed up to be of help to the family and get ready for the event.As I got to the funeral home and started meeting different family members I was a bit confused as to why several loved ones were coming up to me and jokingly saying, "Hello there, how is it going bishop"? It seems my cousin Dani, for what ever reason, thought I was a bishop in my local area and had that printed on the program. I am a church going person, but the biggest leadership role I have had is leading the choir, so most of those who knew me were getting a good laugh at my day of being a bishop.Still, I am glad to say I handled the honor of being the conductor of my aunts funeral and enjoying the tribute to her life.May I offer one last blessing to you all as a one time bishop.....

Happy Birthday Angela

Angela is our youngest daughter and was our Christmas present twenty seven years ago. I remember the hospital having little, baby sized Santa caps that were put on all the little bundles of joy that were born that day and Angela looked very angelic as she made her entrance into our lives. There was one particular day the girls were half heatedly trying to get me to tell them which of the three was my favorite daughter. (I'm not sure if they'll remember the moment) I assigned each into a category and said each was my favorite. For Angela I said, "You are my favorite youngest daughter" to which Angela replied while rolling her eyes, "Dad, I am your ONLY youngest daughter".
Angela's birthday is coming up this week. I'd like to remind her again that she is my favorite youngest daughter and tell you some of the things that makes her so special to me.
Ang desires so strongly to be a good mother to Arianna, and she is. If there is one thing the world needs badly today it is more good mothers. Ang is considerate and looks for ways to help others in their lives and bless them. She is concerned for her sisters. I can't tell you how many times in conversation with Angela she has said she was so concerned for them and the trials and situations they were going through. She has often said she wished there was something more she could do than she had already done, when the truth is she had done more for her sisters than I had done as a father. I love that about Ang. Angela is a worrier and at times that drives me nuts. The truth is, that while I am doing almost nothing assuming and hoping things will work out fine, Ang is busy doing things to make sure they indeed, do turn out fine.
When we finally realized Angela would be our last child I made a concerted effort to be a better father to all my daughters, so to Angela this day I want to say thanks for being my daughter and bringing so much happines and joy into my life....Happy birthday to you

Last years Christmas lesson

About this time last year a certain gentleman came up to me at the store with a surprising request. In general words he made the assumption I could tell a finacially struggling family from a well to do family simply by what it was they were buying for their daily food needs. The crux of the conversation was that he wanted to "upgrade" a family's Christmas and he was hoping I could find a family he could be a Good Samaritan to.
As I went about for a week observing families while they shopped I kept in mind the guidelines this gentleman was looking for and I grilled several potential customers as they became possible candidates.
I was talking with a customer named Cory, trying to see if his family just might be the one chosen for the Christmas benefactor.
"Cory, I see you are shopping by yourself again. Where is Barbara?" I asked as he came through my line.
"She isn't feeling well and hasn't been out of the house for nearly two weeks" he replied.
"Oh, why not" I inquired as I was looking for more information.
"You didn't know? Her liver is failing fast, she is very jaundiced and we are hoping she can get a transplant" Cory replied.
"Yikes!! I didn't know. How is she doing and how long has she been ill?"
"She has been very weak for several months"
I felt maybe I had the chosen family in mind now and I asked several other questions as to how the family was doing generally and let Cory know my thoughts were for their best progress.
The next time I met with the would be Christmas benefactor I told him of Cory and Barbara, their two children and the family condition.
"Perfect" he said. "This sounds like a family my family would like to help in the hopes we can "upgrade" their Christmas. If you wouldn't mind, would you ask them if we could make arrangements to help with their Christmas"?
He had given me a new charge and the next time Cory was in the store I asked him if I could speak to him for several minutes in private. Cory looked a bit puzzled, but still said sure, and up to the office we went.
I told Cory of the Christmas benefactor's request of me to help him find a family and that I hoped Cory and Barbara and their family could be benefitted by his gererosity.
Cory was quiet for ten or fifteen seconds and I could see he was pondering over the offer I had presented to him. His answer was quite different from what I had expected and I must confess it brought a tear to my eye.
"Rick" he said. "Christmas is Barbara's favorite holiday and we are quite certain this is going to be the last one she will have. We have pulled out money from her retirement fund knowing she will not live long enough to earn the payout. With that money we have gotten the kids a couple of things they want but with the rest, Barbara wanted to give it as a special Christmas to some other family that was in need. You can tell your benefactor we appreciate his offer, but we are planning on "upgrading" someone else's Christmas as well. Just the thought of doing this has brightened Barbara's attitude immensely and she is really looking forward to being a giver this Christmas..."
We both stood there looking at each other in an awkward way. Cory knowing he had confessed something their family had hoped to do in secret and me feeling much inadaquate in knowing they were being true examples of the meaning of Christmas...."It is better to give than to receive..."
I shook Cory's hand and wished him well as we headed back out of the office. I told him to give Barbara my best regards.
When I saw Cory in the store again the next time after Christmas I asked him how his holiday had gone.
"Best Christmas ever"!! he beamed.
Even though I knew of the problems they were facing in their family, I envied his joy of the season.