Maggie May - Jake Rivers

The priest continued, "I'll set up a meeting and introduce you to her."

John started coming to different masses and now and again saw Maggie, but never had a chance to talk to her. Finally, the meeting Father Gerald had set up took place. John was standing in front of the office with the priest when Maggie Mae walked up.

As she faced them, she gasped, "John!" and her face turned white.

Father Gerald was somewhat concerned, knowing what he did of Maggie's past life. "I guess you two know each other? Maggie, are you okay to meet with John Goodnight on the Christmas Decorations?"

"Father, I … I do know John. He was a good friend to me – once." With a stronger voice, she continued, "Yes, it's fine that I work with John on the Christmas tree."

Father Gerald left and they went into his office, leaving the door open. They sat on two straight-backed chairs in front of the fireplace. Silenced enveloped them, both looking at the cheery fire made of lengths of lodge pole pine. The collapse of a log with it's bright sparks and sudden flare-up of the flames woke them from their brief reverie.

"How are you, Maggie? You look well."

"I … I'm fine, John." She looked sharply at him for a moment. "You look tired. Have you been sick?"

John stared at the fire for a longish moment; the memory of his lonely days and nights lay heavy on his heart. With a deep sigh, he turned to her, "No, Maggie, not in that sense. Look, I've much to say and I'd like to do that another time. Can we go ahead and talk about Christmas?"

John talked to her awhile about some of the various ways it had been done in the past. Maggie got some paper off the clerics desk and made some notes. They walked through the various areas of the church grounds that would be affected, gradually becoming relaxed with each other.

When they finished they were standing in front of the church. They chatted for a few minutes and John made ready to leave. He turned back, and asked, "Maggie, I have some things to deliver on Wednesday afternoon. I would enjoy your company and I think you would find it rewarding. This is something I do every year at this time. And, Maggie, I'll have a driver so we wouldn't be alone."

After some hesitation, she agreed to go with him.

~~~~~~

Wednesday came and John picked Maggie Mae up in front of the rectory. As he had said there was a large burly man driving the coach and in back of the seats there was a large pile of boxes and a number of flour sacks that appeared to be quite full.

"Good afternoon, Maggie. This is Bill Baughman. I use him for a driver when I go on the Christmas trips. As you will see we will be going to some of the not-so-nice parts of town."

He could see she was curious, so he continued, "Every year the parish comes up with a list of needy people. Some like-minded citizens and myself put the arm on people we know have more money than they can spend and lean on some of the grocers and buy food and toys at their cost. We collect this stuff at a warehouse I own and take turns delivering. Bill is here because in the past we have had trouble with some shady characters trying to steal the goods."

Maggie knew without being told that John Goodnight was a major contributor of the Christmas cheer.

They pulled up in front of what could be charitably called a shack. It was a wooden frame covered by tarpaper with old newspapers stapled over some of the tears. John got down and held his hand up for Maggie. He didn't say anything about the people that lived there.

After a brief knock, a young woman – maybe in her early twenties but looking ten years older, answered the door. With a proud look on her face she smiled at John and said, "Bless you, John Goodnight."

She bade them enter her tiny hovel and Maggie was surprised that it was immaculately clean, with old rugs covering the bare dirt floor. It was dark inside; there were no windows, a lantern being the only source of light. There were two small girls, about two and four and dressed in well-worn clothes.

Bill came in lugging two boxes and several of the flour bags. The woman started crying and spontaneously gave a hug to both men and Maggie Mae.

As they got back in the carriage, John told her, "This woman's husband was hurt in a mining accident and has been in the hospital for a month. It will be four or five months before he can work again. What this family needs more than anything is not food and presents for the girls or even the clothes we left, but they need hope. I have a friend that owns several mines and he will take this woman's husband on as a scheduler. He will make sure the right men and equipment are always in the right place."

They visited a half-dozen more families over the afternoon. Some were neat like the first person and some were slovenly. Some needed a bootstrap to make their live better and others had given up on life. As they made their way back to the church, John added, "It is not my place to judge who is needy and who is not. I get the list of people from Father Gerald."

They left Maggie off in front of the rectory, leaving her with a great deal on her mind.

MAGGIE - GROWTH & GRACE

The afternoon spent with John delivering food for the needy clarified some things in her mind. In one of her meetings with Sister Roberta, the nun had told her, "… to make a clean break with her past."

Now she understood that to mean to shut out and avoid all that had been part of the dark side of her life. She had had ambivalent feelings about John. Yes, he knew about her past, but so did Father Gerald and Sister Roberta.

She had never felt that John was part of what she thought of as the "ugly" part of her life. He had always been respectful and kind towards her. Remembering the night she had run into him when she was on her way to the church shamed her. She had been so wrapped in the joy of being able to change her life that she had forgotten John as a person … he had never been one of her "clients."

Everyone she talked with at the parish all had the highest regard for him. As Christmas approached and she worked closely with John on the Christmas tree and decorations, she gradually became more open to him as a person, as a man. So when John asked her out to dinner to thank her for her efforts in assisting him, she was inclined to say yes.

"Where would we go?"

"Maggie, do you have a favorite? If not, I've always liked the restaurant in the Brown Palace Hotel. Would that be okay?"

She knew it was a fancy place so she asked Hazel to help her, "I don't have any of the right clothes … do you have any ideas?"

"Well, Maggie, I do have some gray wool that would look nice. I know you are a good seamstress, so if we work together …"

That Saturday night, just a few days before Christmas, John picked her up in his one-horse shay. When she answered his knock, he was stunned by how lovely she looked in the stylish, light gray, wool dress. He dared a kiss on her soft cheek and handed her into his buggy. After covering her with the heavy buffalo robe, he snapped the reins and set off for the Brown Palace.

At a cost of two million dollars the hotel was opened several years prior, in 1892. The Italian Renaissance building, using Colorado red granite and Arizona sandstone for the building's exterior featured the first atrium in the country and became known at the place to go for afternoon tea. The restaurant was considered one of the best on the Front Range of Colorado.

John couldn't help but notice the admiring glances cast at Maggie and as the waiter pulled her chair out he remarked to himself, once again, what a lovely woman she was.

The dinner went quite well but as they were passing through the lobby on their way out, a querulous voice called out, "Maggie? Maggie Mae? Is that you?"

John quickly stepped between Maggie and the well-known, stout lawyer. "Joseph, this lady is a friend of mine. It's not anyone you know."

He quickly hustled her out the door to his waiting carriage. John was somewhat put out by the interchange and couldn't help but snap at Maggie as he helped her into her seat, "I suppose that was one of your clients?"

Maggie, shocked at the question and the tone, stepped out of the buggy and was quickly lost in the crowd. As soon as she was sure that John had left, she walked over to the trolley and started her trip back to St. Mary's.

Later, in her room in the dark impersonal night, she let herself go and cried. She knew she was half in love with John Goodnight but how could he have been so cruel?

The next morning, she begged Hazel to take over the work with John on the Christmas decorations.

Several days later she sought out Sister Roberta and told her what had happened. "When he asked if that man was one of my clients, I 'bout died! Of everyone that knew of my past John would have been the last one that I would have expected to say anything."

"Lass, do you think it might have been jealousy that drove him to react that way? You've told me before that he would only come to see you on Sundays. Maybe as long as he never saw the other men he could imagine he was the only one visiting you. Consider how he felt when he saw the man. Could it have been like that?"

"Yes, Sister, I guess it could. I just felt so awful about the way he said it. But if he did it out of jealousy, that means …"

"Exactly, Maggie. For him to be jealous would indicate that he has strong feelings for you. I've known John for years and I knew his wife. John is a good man, an honest man. If you have feelings for him like I believe he has for you, then you need to do something to let him know that."

"You are right, of course, Sister. I do care a lot for John, more than I have ever cared for any other man other than my husband. You have given me much to think about, Sister.

JOHN – REACHING FOR LOVE

John felt this terrible ache in his heart as Maggie Mae disappeared into the heavy crowd. "Oh, God, what have I done?" he asked himself, over and over. He knew he had hurt her in the worst way possible. He had known for years what she was but he was still able to come to her almost every Sunday for years.

With a heavy heart he started his carriage for home. He had gone several blocks when he saw a group of men and women standing on a street corner singing Christmas Carols. Dressed in the dark uniforms with the men wearing military-like caps and the women with full bonnets, they were singing with a love that sent chills down his back:

It came upon the midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth
With news of joy foretold,
"Peace on the earth, good will to men
From heaven's all gracious King."
The world in solemn stillness lay,
To hear the angels sing.

He listened for several minutes … feeling peace flow into his heart. Then the next song, one he recognized as "O Holy Night" came the words that grabbed his heart and mind:

Truly He taught us
to love one another;
His law is love and
His gospel is peace.

"If this was how God wanted us to be with others, with strangers, with our neighbors … John understood with a flash: how then should I treat those I truly care about, those that mean a great deal to me."

"I treated Maggie Mae with less care and respect than God expects of me with the random stranger!" John was awed by this thought and lay awake late that night trying to make his life make sense.

Several days later, while he was still trying to understand what he should do, he received an invitation for dinner with Maggie at the rectory. With faint trepidation and more excitement, John made ready for the dinner two days hence, at last fully knowing his heart.

MAGGIE & JOHN

Maggie corralled Hazel to help her prepare the dinner … and to serve it. Maggie knew that if she could just make John understand how she felt then everything would be okay. She wanted a simple dinner – nothing that would distract from the conversation. She did decorate the table with a Christmas theme – Hazel somewhere had found a red tablecloth with green napkins.

The dinner was for a Sunday night, the one night the priests either ate out or at one or another of the parishioners' houses. Everything was ready and John was punctual to the minute. Hazel went to answer the front door and brought John back with her.

Maggie Mae was standing by the table, suddenly nervous as Hazel entered with an equally nervous John.

"Maggie, I …"

"John, please …"

With a rush they came together. The tight embrace more than made up for the fumbling, tentative words. They finally broke when Hazel, with an inelegant harrumph, asked if they were ready to eat.

John sat at the end and Maggie next to him on the side. The food was eaten slowly and the conversation after a tentative start turned fast and furious. Both of them were rushing to say what was, and had been, in their hearts.

It was the ending of the past life for both of them and a new life for them as a couple. It was not always easy and it took a great deal of time. Maggie had to finish her catechism with the Monsignor. Father Gerald had to post their banns. Plans were made, and as they wished, at the start of Advent the following year they were married.

They had many obstacles to overcome but it was a wonderful love they shared, all the richer for the challenges.