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THE LITTLE 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 ten years.
It
all began because my husband Mike hated Christmas. Oh, not the true
meaning of Christmas, but the commercial aspects of it – overspending
and 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 on the wrestling team 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.
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. He so enjoyed coaching 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 a small, white
envelope on the tree, the note inside telling Mike what I had done, and
that this was his gift from me.
Mike's
smile was the brightest thing about Christmas that year. And that same
bright smile lit up 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 white 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
small, white envelope never lost its allure.
The
story doesn't end there. You see, we lost Mike last year due to dreaded
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 the next morning, I found it was magically
joined by three more. Unbeknownst to the others, each of our three
children had for the first time placed a white envelope on the tree for
their dad. The tradition has grown and someday will expand even further
with our grandchildren standing to take down that special envelope.
Mike's spirit, like the Christmas spirit will always be with us."
For the Man Who Hated Christmas
(A true Christmas Story by Nancy W. Gavin, December 2015)
Kaavan, Pakistan's only Asian elephant, was known as "Word's Loneliest Elephant"when his partner died in 2012, leaving him to languish in a controversial Islamabad zoo. Earlier this year, Islamabad's High Court closed the zoo over its poor conditions, and gave an animal welfare group permission to relocate him. Free the Wild, the charity tasked with taking care of Kaavan, was co-founded by singer Cher. Non-profit Cambodia Wildlife Sanctuary said that Kaavan will now live in a huge jungle enclosure, where most of his food will be provided naturally -- although he'll also get fruit treats to "satisfy his sweet tooth." Three other elephants live at the sanctuary.
A Happy Ending.
4 comments:
Jacki, I really, really loved everything in your blog again. It's such a treat to read it in the evening. It's always so positive and that's a good way to end a day. Thank you so much for this.
Have a happy weekend!
Love the peacock feather eye….it is looking at me! :-)
Thank you Elenor, that is what I hope for, a relaxing, positive fun break from the negative mess outside.
Thanks, John, yes, I am sure he is.
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