The Meaning of Christmas

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ravenmx
ravenmx
14 Followers

"Time to eat. Everything is spread out on the counter. Grab a plate and fill up."

As the three sat and ate, laughing and joking, Gloria felt what it must be like to be a family. Her family never did this and she supposed that was why she was so comfortable dining alone. It felt nice to laugh and share and to watch the interactions between Leslie and Mary. For once she truly felt like she belonged.

"Ok mommy, time to open presents." Mary said jumping down from the table.

Laughing Leslie pushed back from the table. "We saved our present openings for after dinner since we were having company. I think that is the hardest thing Mary has had to deal with all year"

"Well that works since I have presents for both of you anyway. The two under the tree are for Mary and the one for you, well you will have to wait and see."

Gloria and Leslie sat on the couch as Mary grabbed the presents under the tree and brought them over to her mom. Leslie handed two to Gloria and the rest to Mary. Mary was so excited that she ripped through all four of them in a matter of minutes. She got a pair of gloves and a hat that Leslie had knitted her, the doll from the store last night and a doll and stuffed bear that Gloria had bought this morning.

"Yo turn, yo turn." Mary chanted at Gloria. "Momma and me made it this morning."

Laughing, Gloria slowly opened the presents. When she saw what they were, tears came to her eyes. One was a drawing Mary had made that morning in crayon of a Christmas tree and a turkey. There were three stick people and underneath each one was a name. The third person was her. The other was a small silver bracelet. She could tell just by looking at it that it was a family heirloom or that it was very special in some way..

"Oh my, Mary this is such a great drawing. I love the turkey, you did a great job. Leslie, this bracelet is beautiful, but I can tell it must be a heirloom, or at in the very least very special to you and I really shouldn't."

"Yes that bracelet is special to me. It was given to me by a dear friend years ago. I had helped her out of a very dark and lonely place. It was the only thing she had to repay me with and it was very dear to her. It is also very dear to me and I want to give it to you for helping me out as well."

"Well, um, thank you, but all I did was give you a few dollars and a ride home." Gloria stuttered as she tried to hold back tears.

"No, you did more then that. You showed me that there are still people that are willing to go out of their way to help someone in need. I was starting to get depressed and feeling like the world had lost its generosity. Everyone is so into themselves these days and worrying about their Hummers and Mansions. You showed me that the Christmas Spirit was still alive, at least in my little part of the world."

Choking back tears, Gloria wasn't sure what to say. She hated Christmas and all it stood for, in her opinion, commercialism, money and greed. She never realized that it wasn't about that but that it was about friends, family and helping others. Leslie was right, Christmas was a new beginning, the beginning of a good friendship and the beginning of a understanding that she was never taught. You make Christmas what you make it, it doesn't have to be about greed and money.

"Well, thank you again, it is beautiful. I will cherish forever. Now for your present. The company I work for is a small company. We provide all kinds of services from personal shopping to planning your next trip and we have several repeat customers. My employers and I are basically a jack of all trades but none of us are very technically savvy. The business has been going good and strong for several years but Jim and Martha feel that it is it time to get on with the times and bring in more business. They need someone that can build, maintain and market a website as well help researching new trends and ways to expand. So your present is a job. The office is small so most of your work can be done from home and when you do have to come into the office you can bring Mary. That way you don't have to worry about day care. The starting wage is not on par as to what the larger corporations are paying for those services but once the business grows it could be. I have already made arrangements for you are to start on Monday. That is if you accept."

Now it was Leslie's turn to choke back tears. She couldn't believe it. This person she has only known for a day has turned her world around.

"Of course I accept. I will do my best to meet all of your expectations. I, uh, don't know what else to say. I just barely met you and you already have changed my life for the better."

'No, actually you have changed mine. I didn't have the best life growing up. I am estranged from my parents and have no friends. Jim and Martha are the closest people I have in my life. They are like my surrogate parents and the only people I trust. I have grown up learning to be cynical and distrustful. Having you open up your house to me, a total stranger, just because I paid for your groceries and offered you a ride home has shown me that not everyone is just out for themselves and coming here, having dinner and opening presents has shown me that Christmas is not about greed and money but is really about family and friends and helping out our fellow person. Going out of my way to do all the things I did made me feel good about myself, something I haven't felt ever. It all has made me realize what I have been missing in my life, friends and love. A person cannot go through life alone, it just wasn't meant to be like that."

With tears in her eyes, Leslie leaned over and gave Gloria a hug. "Merry Christmas my friend."

ravenmx
ravenmx
14 Followers
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13 Comments
Cito22Cito22over 2 years ago

Beautiful. Nice Job

DocWordsDocWordsover 2 years ago

Beautiful. Thank you.

AnonymousAnonymousalmost 6 years ago
Loved it

Great story. Loved helping each other.

beachfreakwhvbeachfreakwhvover 7 years ago
Well...

I got tears in my eys! :-)

AnonymousAnonymousover 8 years ago
Hello ravenmx, _ This Is Truly A Lovely Story!!!

"The Meaning of Christmas", is a beautiful heart touching story and I enjoyed reading it very much. Well written! Well done!

Thank you for sharing your beautiful words with all of us, and especially with me!

I wish I could give you more than just 5 stars.....

Gay Kat

xx

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