My Christmas Story.... I post this story every Christmas, to help those who feel as if they are losing themselves, losing faith or who are just simply lost. Its a true story....My Christmas Story.

The years was 1985......and I had just lost my 2nd child to congenital heart defects. Her name was Lauri Ann and she lived most of her 3 months and 2 days in Mott Childrens Hospital in Ann Arbor. She died due to complications....slipped peacefully away to heaven in a medicine induced coma. We buried her 3 days later in Fowlerville.
That was October 1985.............I was 19 yrs old.
In November 1985, my Mom informed me that she was kicking me out. When I asked her why, she simply said that my younger sister, Michele didnt like me and that she wasnt going to come home (she was 16 yrs old) again unless I was gone. So, my Mom did what any parent would do, I guess, and kicked me out.
I had no money, no car, no furnature, no home to move into....NOTHING...!! What I did have was a 3 yr old daughter (Saima), alot of emotional and mental baggage...and ALOT of anger....!!
My Mom gave me 3 weeks to find a place to live.......so I started looking. I had found out that my step-monster had taken out a life insurance policy on Lauri the day she was born, and when she died, he gave me the money. It wasnt alot, but it was enough to buy a used mobile home in the town next to Fowlerville.
I packed the few things I had....and moved in by the date my Mom gave me to move out. It was......to me the final act of favortism with my Mom towards my sister. She had ALWAYS favored my sister....and now I was out on my own, with nothing to my name.
I was forced, due to my lack of anything, to go and apply for welfare. Since I didnt have a car (my Mom took the car that she had given me when I turned 16 yr and gave it to my sister, so she would have a car at 16 yr too.), I couldnt work...I had to quit college. So, I applied for welfare or ADC and was approved. The Michigan Government would support me and my daughter til I could get back on my feet.
When I had unpacked, I realized that I truely had nothing. I didnt even have a couch or tv. I used an old card table and folding chairs for my dining room furnature. I did have a full bedroom set for Saima...just B4 Lauri died, a family from a local church called our house and told me that they had heard about Lauri and wanted to help me out by donating the bedroom set to Saima. I was thankful......it was a nice set with a canopy bed and dresser. She loved it. I didnt have a bed for myself......so I slept on the floor in my bedroom. Eventually, Dave (my b/f at the time) bought me a water bed with his taxes the following spring.
I didnt have a washer or dryer.....so I had to pull my laundry to the local laundry mat about 1 1/2 miles away in a wagon once a week when it needed to be done. I would put it into a bag, load Saima up in the wagon and walk to town. Even when it was cold and snowy, we would walk to do the laundry. And when I couldnt afford to go to the laundry mat, I would wash our clothes out in the tub and line dry them in the livingroom and dining room. I also had to walk to town to get my mail.....there were no mail boxes in the community which I lived, it was all post office boxes. I would usually get my mail when I went to do laundry.
November came and went......and December charged in like a cannon. The weather was cold, coldest winter we had had in a long time. My house was old and not at all airtight, and the gas bill was outragious. I was more broke then I had ever been......I was becoming more angry at my life.....at my Mom and at God....!! What had I done that was so bad that I needed to have this happening to me. Ya know that old saying, "what goes around comes around..." I just couldnt figure it out. I felt that God hated me....and was punishing me, but for what......?? I could feel myself spiraling downward and I didnt know how I was going to stop the spin. I wanted to crawl under a rock or into a hole to die. I did what I had to do for Saima-but that was almost impossible at times.
Mid- December, Saima and I started making christmas ornaments and decorations out of construction paper. They turned out beautiful and we were both very proud of them...!! We didnt have a tree yet, and I wasnt sure if I would be able to even afford one, but I was going to scrape up all my pennies and try to find one, even if it was a "Charlie Brown Tree".
Two days B4 Christmas I borrowed my Moms mustang and headed into Williamston to look for a tree. A friend of mine had told me that the fire dept was selling trees and that they had some really cheap ones that I might be able to buy. So, I packed Saima into the car and headed out in search of the perfect tree.
When I pulled into the lot, there was no one there. I saw a truck parked out back, but I didnt see anyone....so I wandered around a bit.....looking for someone to help me find a tree.
Finally.....I found him......in the back behind the trees and camper they used for an office. He was a bigger man, not fat-just plump with a mix a mix of salt and pepper hair and a beard and mustache. When he saw me, he smiled and asked if I needed any help. I smiled back and told him that I indeed needed some help.
He showed Saima and I around the lot....pointing out all these big, beautiful, full trees. Finally he stopped and asked if I had seen one that I liked. I nodded, but told him that I thought they were all tooo expensive. Then I quickly explained my situation and that I had about $12.00 in my pocket.
So he leads me to the back of the lot, to a tree that was wrapped with twine. He says that this is the perfect tree and it just so happens that it is only $10. I smile and thank him. He asks me if I will need help loading it in my car....and I say yes plz. He carries it to my Moms car.......and says it will never fit and asks if I would be willing to allow him to help me get it home. I was a bit weary, but wanted that tree....and knew I couldnt get it home myself and my Mom would frek out if I had this guy strap it to the roof of her new mustang......and there was just something about this guy that told me that I could trust him. So I nodded, and said thank you.
I loaded Saima into her car seat and off we went to my house....with this kind gentleman following behind me with my very first Christmas tree. I was elated....!! Saima and I sang christmas Caroles all the way home. I was feeling a bit of the Christmas spirit inside of me...and it felt good.
He pulled his truck into my drive way........as I got Saima out and unlocked my front door. He brought the tree in, and a tree stand that I assumed he had grabbed from the tree lot. He placed the tree in the stand and put the tree in the corner where I wanted it. I offered him a soda, and he declined....adding that he would be right back.
When he returned, he had a canister of hot chocolate. He asked if I would like to make us some....and B4 I could say anything, Saima said YES...!!...clapping her small hands together. So, he went into the livingroom with Saima (by this time I had a old and worn wicker patio couch in my livingroom)...and they read a couple books while I made the cocoa. When I came into the livingroom, he asked me why I had no furniture........and I think I smiled and shrugged. I didnt really want to get into my history with this stranger.
He asked if I would mind very much if he helped Saima and I decorate the tree (he had seen our homemade paper ornaments on the table in the kitchen)....and I said I wouldnt mind. He again went out to his truck and came back in with several strands of colored lights for my tree. Again, I assumed they had come from the tree lot, maybe left over decorations that they hadnt used or needed.
He placed the lights on my tree...and then we all decorated the tree with the ornaments. I hadnt had money to buy proper hangers, so I used extra yarn that I pulled out of an old scarf to hang them. When the tree was done, we stood back and marveled at its beauty. We turned off the lights and just sat there, looking at he tree. I was taken back to my childhood-long B4 the abuse had started with from "The Devil" and it made me smile...and a tear slid down my face.
I got Saima ready for bed...and when she was ready, the 3 of us sat on the livingroom floor and this man told the story of the night B4 Christmas....from memory. I listened and smiled...and Saima was mesmorized by the story. She snuggeled into my lap and fell fast asleep b4 the story was over. I was grateful to this man-this stranger-who had brought a small amount of happiness into my house.
He picked Saima up for me and helped me carry her to her bedroom. I know this sounds weird, but I never once felt afraid or scared of this man. He looked down the hallway, into my bedroom while taking Saima to her room and nooticed my "bedroll" on the floor. He never asked, and of course I didnt offer any explaination...but I saw the look on his face. It spoke volumes. He let me tuck Saima in and he returned to the livingroom.
When I returned to the livingroom, he was sitting on the floor and asked me to come and talk to him a while. I sat on the couch and we talked. He said that he sensed that I had deep anger, that something bad had happened to me in my life......and asked if I would like to talk about it.
I didnt really go into great details of my whole life....I had found form past experiences that people didnt or couldnt understand the abuse I had suffered as a child and young woman at the hands of "The Devil".......but I did tell him about Lauri and my Mom kicking me out, and the hard ships I had faced afterwards. He then asked me if I had faith in anything or anyone or if I believed in God. I think I smiled and chuckled as I told him that I did not have faith in anything and that God hated me and I hated God back for what he had allowed to happen to me and Lauri.
He told me that I needed to find some faith, in myself and in God.....and give my hurt and pain to God, that He did not hate me, but loved me. I, of course thought this man was crazy.......and was ready for him to leave right now...!!
As he was leaving, he said to always have faith in life...and myself, and to try to find God again. He hugged me...and then he was gone.
==========Christmas eve I put out the few things I was able to buy for Saima. It wasnt much, nothing like what she was used to when we lived with Mom, but I knew she wouldnt mind. Saima was not that kind of kid. Then I sat on my floor just watching the tree with its lights twinkling like diamonds upon the branches.....and I thought about what that man had told me about finding faith in myself. After I finished my cocoa (he had left the canister for me) I turned off the lights and headed to my bed on the floor.
Christmas morning Saima woke up to find her gifts from Santa under the tree. She opened them, ohhh'ing and ahhh'ing at each and every thing. She was happy with what she had gotten and played quietly as I made us breakfast of pancakes and bacon and eggs. I wasnt sure how I was going to feed Saima the remainder of the month, but I was determined to have as wonderful a Christmas as possible for my baby girl.
After breakfast, I cleaned up the kitchen, picked up the gift wrap form the presents Saima had opened...closed the garbage bag and headed out the front door to put the bag in the dumpster. I walked out the door, turned to the right and placed the bag into the dumpster.
When I turned around to head back into the house......I couldnt believe my eyes at what I saw.....out on my patio were boxes and boxes and boxes of gifts and groceries and things for Saima and I. There was a new bike for Saima and a sand box. There were black garbage bags full of wrapped gifts. Boxes of food. I was in shock and disbelief. I smiled, laughed and cried. How did these things get there.....?? Who had done this wonderful thing for Saima and me.....??
As I started bringing the packages in the house.....my neighbor walked over and asked what was going on. When I told her I had no idea she said she hadnt seen or heard a thing. She helped me bring the boxes and packages into the house...stood there for a few minutes and then excused herself so that Saima and I could open the packages.
One rather small box was labeled "OPEN ME LAST", so I set it aside and started going through the boxes and bags that had been left on my patio.
There were enough groceries that I didnt have to shop for nearly 5 months, toys and clothes for Saima, a winter coat and boots, gift certificates with 4 month intervals so that I could go shopping every 4 months for new clothes for Saima for a yr. Gifts for me, a certificate for a "new" couch and "new" tv at a local referb furniture place, a certificate for 4 months of paid rent on my place, clothes for me.........the list of things was endless.
Finally, I got to the box labeled "OPEN ME LAST".....my heart was pounding and I could barely breathe. I opened it slowly.... there was a snow globe with a small train going around and into a mountain (kind of like the polar express train) that played "Winter Wonderland"and a white envelpoe with my name on the front of it, with a card inside. I wound up the globe and let the muzic play as I opened the envelpoe with very shakey hands...................on the front of the card was a little mouse but no words. On the inside there were hand written words, that said............
"Dear Lisa and little Saima,
Merry Christmas
Lisa, you are a remarkable young woman who has a fire in her soul.
Remember to always keep the faith in yourself.
I see great things ahead of you.
May God Bless You.
Love and Best Wishes Santa Claus"I started to cry........really really cry.....!! I had never had anyone do anything like this for me, ever....!! I had never had anyone see something good in me, I had never had anyone think of me like that. Was I really a good person, did I really have a fire in my soul....?? I was over whelmed, and just sat there holding Saima......crying.
===========The day after Christmas, I returned to the lot in Williamston where I had gotten my tree...and met this man who called himself Santa Claus. There were several men there, removing the trees that hadnt been sold and taking down decorations and such.
When I talked to one of them, he directed me to the fire hall in town. At first, I thought that maybe the guy was going to get into trouble for doing what he did. And I tried to come up with a suitable story to help keep him out of trouble.
The fire cheif met me in the parking lot of the fire hall.........and asked me to plz tell him what I had told the guys on the lot. So, I did...........and told the cheif that I wanted to thank this man, that had saved not only my Christmas....and faith, but probably my life as well.
He shook his head.....and looked at me like I was crazy and explained that there was no one that matched that description that worked for the Williamston fire department. And that the lot wasnt even open at the time that I said I had been there. That they had some kind of problem and that they had shut the lot down that day around 3pm and didnt open it again til the following day which would have been Christmas eve...........I started to tune him out at this point in the conversation...........He offered that maybe I was just confused about which lot I had stopped at.....and that maybe I should go to the one up the street at the gas station.
I nodded my head...and thanked him for his time as I walked away....................I knew that I had been at the right lot. I knew that the man who called himself Santa Claus had been at that lot. I knew it. And it all started to fall into place. God had sent this man, Santa Claus, into my life to save me from myself. He knew that I was falling...and that I needed someone to save me.
To this day, I have never seen that man again, and trust me...I have looked for him. In every face I look, even now. I was never able to say Thank you to him for helping save me from myself, finding faith and giving me a reason to believe again. I truely believe I was touched by an angel.........and Santa Claus that day. And for that I will be forever grateful.....!!
I have never completely lost faith in myself since that day. I still have the card and the snow globe that was enclosed in that small "OPEN ME LAST" box. They are worn from the amount of times I have had to go back and read them, or just wind the globe and hear its muzic to remind me to keep the faith. I will never lose my faith again...and I will always remember that God loves me, even when bad times strike...and I dont know or understand why, I know that HE is here with me.
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL
Current Mood:
cheerfulCurrent Music: My Snow Globe-Winter Wonderland