SIMPLE WHITE ENVELOPE
It's just a small white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas tree. No name, no identification, no inscription. It has peeked through the branches of our tree for the past 10 years or so.
It all began because my husband Mike hated Christmas -- oh, not the true meaning of Christmas, but the commercial aspects of it -- the overspending, the frantic running around at the last minute to get a tie for Uncle Harry and the dusting powder for Grandma -- the gifts given in desperation because you couldn't think of anything else. Knowing he felt this way, I decided one year to bypass the usual shirts, sweaters, ties, and so forth. I reached for something special just for Mike. The inspiration came in an unusual way. Our son Kevin, who was 12 that year, was wrestling at the junior level at the school he attended. Shortly before Christmas, there was a non-league match against a team sponsored by an inner-city church. These youngsters, dressed in sneakers so ragged that shoestrings seemed to be the only thing holding them together, presented a sharp contrast to our boys in their spiffy blue and gold uniforms and sparkling new wrestling shoes. As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the other team was wrestling without headgear, a kind of light helmet designed to protect a wrestler's ears. It was a luxury the ragtag team obviously could not afford.
Well, we ended up walloping them. We took every weight class. And as each of their boys got up from the mat, he swaggered around in his tatters with false bravado, a kind of street pride that couldn't acknowledge defeat. Mike, seated beside me, shook his head sadly, "I wish just one of them could have won," he said. "They have a lot of potential, but losing like this could take the heart right out of them." Mike loved kids -- all kids -- and he knew them, having coached little league football, baseball, and lacrosse.
That's when the idea for his present came. That afternoon, I went to a local sporting goods store and bought an assortment of wrestling headgear and shoes and sent them anonymously to the inner-city church. On Christmas Eve, I placed the envelope on the tree, the note inside telling Mike what I had done and that this was his gift from me. His smile was the brightest thing about Christmas that year and in succeeding years. For each Christmas, I followed the tradition -- one year sending a group of mentally handicapped youngsters to a hockey game, another year a check to a pair of elderly brothers whose home had burned to the ground the week before Christmas, and on and on. The envelope became the highlight of our Christmas. It was always the last thing opened on Christmas morning, and our children, ignoring their new toys, would stand with wide-eyed anticipation as their dad lifted the envelope from the tree to reveal its contents.
As the children grew, the toys gave way to more practical presents, but the envelope never lost its allure. The story doesn't end there. You see, we lost Mike last year due to cancer. When Christmas rolled around, I was still so wrapped in grief that I barely got the tree up. But Christmas Eve found me placing an envelope on the tree, and in the morning it was joined by three more. Each of our children, unbeknownst to the others, had placed an envelope on the tree for their dad. The tradition has grown and someday will expand even further with our grandchildren standing around the tree with wide-eyed anticipation watching as their fathers take down the envelope. Mike's spirit, like the Christmas spirit, will always be with us. May we all remember Christ, who is the reason for the season, and the true Christmas spirit this year and always. God Bless!
A slender acquaintance with the world must convince every man that actions, not words, are the true criterion of the attachment of friends.
(George Washington)
Daddys Poem
Her hair was up in a pony tail, her favorite dress tied with a bow. Today was Daddy's Day at school, and she couldn't wait to go.
But her mommy tried to tell her, that she probably should stay home.
Why the kids might not understand, if she went to school alone. But she was not afraid; she knew just what to say.
What to tell her classmates of why he wasn't there today. But still her mother worried, for her to face this day alone.
And that was why once again, she tried to keep her daughter home
But the little girl went to school eager to tell them all. About a dad she never sees a dad who never calls.
There were daddies along the wall in back, for everyone to meet. Children squirming impatiently, anxious in their seats.
One by one the teacher called a student from the class. To introduce their daddy, as seconds slowly passed. At last the teacher called her name, every child turned to stare.
Each of them was searching, a man who wasn't there.
"Where's her daddy at?" She heard a boy call out.
"She probably doesn't have one," another student dared to shout.
And from somewhere near the back, she heard a daddy say, "Looks like another deadbeat dad, too busy to waste his day."
The words did not offend her, as she smiled up at her Mom. And looked back at her teacher, who told her to go on.
And with hands behind her back, slowly she began to speak.
And out from the mouth of a child, came words incredibly unique. "My Daddy couldn't be here, because he lives so far away. But I know he wishes he could be, since this is such a special day. And though you cannot meet him, I wanted you to know.
All about my daddy, and how much he loves me so. He loved to tell me stories he taught me to ride my bike. He surprised me with pink roses, and taught me to fly a kite.
We used to share fudge, sundaes, and ice cream in a cone. And though you cannot see him. I'm not standing here alone. "Cause my daddy's always with me, even though we are apart I know because he told me, he'll forever be in my heart"
With that, her little hand reached up, and lay across her chest.
Feeling her own heartbeat, beneath her favorite dress. And from somewhere here in the crowd of dads,her mother stood in tears.
Proudly watching her daughter, who was wise beyond her years. For she stood up for the love of a man not in her life.
Doing what was best for her, doing what was right. And when she dropped her hand back down, staring straight into the crowd.
She finished with a voice so soft, but its message clear and loud. "I love my daddy very much, he's my shining star. And if he could, he'd be here, but heaven's just too far.
You see he is a Marine, and died just this past year. When a roadside bomb hit his convoy, and taught Americans to fear.
But sometimes when I close my eyes, it's like he never went away." And then she closed her eyes, and saw him there that day.
And to her mothers amazement, she witnessed with surprise. A room full of daddies and children, all starting to close their eyes.
Who knows what they saw before them, who knows what they felt inside. Perhaps for merely a second, they saw him at her side. "I know you're with me Daddy," to the silence she called out. And what happened next made believers, of those once filled with doubt.
Not one in that room could explain it, for each of their eyes had been closed. But there on the desk beside her, was a fragrant long-stemmed pink rose.
And a child was blessed, if only for a moment, by the love of her shining star. And given the gift of believing, that heaven is never too far.
They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them, but then an entire life to forget them.
Take the time...to live and love,from someone who didn't to someone who still can.
Children's Wisdom
An elderly woman and her little grandson, whose face was sprinkled with bright freckles, were spending the day at the zoo. They saw lot's of children waiting in line to get their faces painted. they decided they would get their faces painted too.
While standing in line one little girl said to a freckled boy next to her, "You've got so many freckles, there's no place to paint on your face!"Embarrassed, the little boy dropped his head and began to cry. His grandmother knelt down next to him. "I love your freckles! When I was a little girl, I always wanted freckles." She than took her finder and traced it around the child's cheek. "Freckles are beautiful."The boy looked up. "Really?" he asked hesitantly."Of course," said the grandmother. "Why just name one thing that's prettier than freckles."The little boy thought for a moment and peered directly into grandmother's face and softly whispered, "Wrinkles."
A little girl asked her Grandma how old she was, Her Grandma
teasingly replied "I'm Not sure.".. The little girl said Grandma "Look in your underwear, "Mine says I am four."
A Sunday school class was studying the Ten Commandments.
They were ready to discuss the last one.
The teacher asked if anyone could tell her what it was.
Susie raised her hand, stood tall, and quoted, "
Thou shall not take the covers off thy neighbor's wife."
" Give me a sentence about a public servant," said a teacher.
The small boy wrote: "The fireman came down the ladder pregnant."
The teacher took the lad aside to correct him.
"Don't you know what pregnant means?" she asked.
Sure," said the young boy confidently. "It means carrying a child."
A grandmother was surprised by her 7 year old grandson one morning.
He had made her coffee.
She drank what was the worst cup of coffee in her life.
When she got to the bottom, there were three of those little green Army men in the cup.
She said "Honey, what are these army men doing in my coffee?"
Her grandson said, "Grandma, it says on TV, "The best part of waking up is soldiers in your cup!"
A grandmother was telling her little granddaughter what her own childhood was like.
"We used to skate outside on a pond. I had a swing made from a tire; it hung from a tree in our front yard.
We rode our pony.
We picked wild raspberries in the woods."The little girl was wide-eyed, taking this in.
At last she said, "I sure wish I'd gotten to know you sooner!"
