“C’mon Tommy, get your coat on, we’re gonna get us a tree,” declared Max.
“Yes!!” shouted Tommy as his mom helped him get snuggled into his coat, so pleased to see his joy. The boys both headed out through the kitchen door. The sun shone brightly against the new snow as Max took a deep breath of fresh winter air. Looking around, Tommy asked,
“Where are we going to buy a tree?”
“We’re already there,” said Max as he waved his arm to display the trees on the property, beautifully dusted with snow.
“But before we choose our tree, I have a question for you. . ., do you wanna build a snowman?”
“Wow,” and he ran up to Max and gave him a big hug. Instinctively, he held the young boys embrace and closed his eyes.
“We always make the best snowman Johnny.” Tommy looked up at him,
“What?”
“Nothing. . . , c’mon Tommy, let’s make that snowman and pick a tree to cutdown.”
Suddenly, Max was hit with a snowball and turned around to see Kathy and Francine in winter coats and hats, loaded down with their arms full of snowballs.
“Yikes Tommy, let’s get ‘em, “and they both packed their own snowballs and went after them. And the battle was on. Tommy chased after his mom, both laughing and running while ending up rolling around on the soft snow. Max and Kathy watched them play and was grateful to see them so happy after such a hard year.
“Now that’s what family Christmas is all about,” commented Kathy.
“Yes, I remember,” and gave her a kiss.
“Now, let’s build that snowman.”
Afterwards, Francine and Kathy were inside making the preparations. The entire neighborhood was still without power, but the fireplace kept them warm and the lit scented candles arranged throughout the room combined with the sun streaming through the windows kept the room cheery. With the Kory-Mart out of power Jimmy and Kory brought over more decorations and food from their gas station mini-mart.
“Okay, here it is,” declared Max as he carried in the small tree. Tommy was beaming with excitement.
“Mommy, look at it. I picked it out and we cut it down. Isn’t it beautiful?”
“It’s the most beautiful tree I’ve ever seen baby, we’ll put it right here in the middle of the table.”
“Can we buy some decorations mommy?” As if on cue, Kathy came in carrying a big paper bag,
“We don’t need to buy decorations sweetheart,” and spilled out its contents on the small table.
“Wow,” said a wide-eyed Tommy. Spread out were red ribbons, green ribbons, pine cones and strips of pink paper. Along with small silver packets of take-out soy sauce brought from the store, Max, Kathy, Jimmy, Kory, Francine and Tommy all trimmed the tree while singing Christmas songs. And for a final Holiday touch Kathy lightly sprinkled the small tree with white baking flour to mimic a dusting of snow. They stood back to admire their work and Tommy thought it was so magical. Kathy and Francine arranged their Christmas Eve dinner on the coffee table in front of the fireplace, and proudly in the middle was the tree provided by Tommy and Max. She also placed the small Christmas tin box with a red heart and the words A Lot Of Love inscribed on the top under the tree.
They feasted on chicken noodle soup heated on the small wood burning stove in the kitchen and cold baloney with cheese crackers. For Francine and Tommy, it was the best day and dinner they’ve had in a long time and spent with a warm and loving family. Together they played in the snow, cut down and decorated a Christmas tree, played games, sang songs and took turns telling stories in front of the fire. Francine felt they were a million miles away from where they were only a few days ago. She turned to Tommy and said,
“All right young man, it’s time for bed. Santa isn’t coming until you are asleep.” They said their goodbyes to Jimmy and Kory as they left, trudging up to their store on the compacted snow. Kathy and Max started their long trip up to their room,
“Let us know if you need anything, we’ll be right upstairs, good night and sleep well, and Merry Christmas. We’ll see you in the morning.”
Tommy was the first to awaken and jumped on his mom,
“Mommy, wake up it’s Christmas!!”
“Oh, Merry Christmas baby,” happy to see Tommy so excited and hugged him. Kathy was already rattling around in the kitchen and the smells of coffee and cinnamon toast on the small stove filled the house. Francine called out,
“Merry Christmas Kathy, is Max there?”
“Merry Christmas you two, not yet, he’s on his way down. You know how he always has to have his cup of coffee ready for him.”
“Can we open the presents now Kathy?”, asked an anxious Tommy. Kathy bent down and touched his nose and said,
“It’s a family tradition to open our presents Christmas night.” Tommy joyfully shook his head.
“Okay,” he smiled back.
Still with no power but it didn’t matter, they had everything they needed. The fireplace, the scented candles and the wood burning stove in the kitchen kept them toasty and fed. The Kory-Mart was also dark so Jimmy and Kory brought food pre-prepared in their store; corn dogs, burritos, cheese burgers, packaged cookies, chips and popcorn and of course twisted red licorice. It was a magnificent Christmas Day Feast. Kathy and Francine heated and arranged the food on the coffee table in front of the fireplace with their little Christmas tree right in the middle. They grazed all day long on the Kory-Mart spread and Francine and Tommy learned how to play Ma-Jong. They sang songs and took turns reading Christmas stories in front of the fire. Kathy and Max showed them how to dance the Christmas Waltz, and soon Jimmy and Kory, and Francine and Tommy were dancing around the parlor as they sang along with the Victrola, frosted window panes, candles gleaming inside, painted candy canes on the tree.
Finally, after celebrating all day, when Tommy couldn’t stand it any longer, it was time to open presents. Tommy opened his present wrapped in brown paper and tied with a big red ribbon. It was a grey woolen hat with the name TOMMY stitched across the upturned rim and immediately put it on.
“Oh, I love it, thank you Santa.” Francine opened her gift which was a purple woolen hat with the name FRANCINE stitched across the rim as well. It was a perfect Christmas. It pleased her so much to see Tommy so happy. It was actually the same comfortable feelings of past family Christmases spent with Terry and her mom Elise when their tradition was also to wait and open their gifts on Christmas night. Their last one spent together was when Tommy was four years old, and the night of the terrible accident. She never dreamed this heartwarming feeling would return but the last few days restored her faith. Seeing the lovely old couple holding hands and sharing in Tommy’s joy made her realize that they saved her, when she needed it most. And in her redemption, learned from the kindness of strangers, that you don’t need a lot of money to have a Merry Christmas, just a lot of love.
to be continued