pahunkboy
Posts: 33061
Joined: 2/26/2006
From: Central Pennsylvania
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Adventure with Grandma
I remember my first Christmas adventure with Grandma. I was just a
kid. I remember tearing across town on my bike to visit her on the
day my big sister dropped the bomb: "There is no Santa Claus," she jeered.
"Even dummies know that!"
My Grandma was not the gushy kind, never had been. I fled to her that
day because I knew she would be straight with me. I knew Grandma
always told the truth, and I knew that the truth always went down a whole
lot easier when swallowed with one of her world-famous cinnamon buns. I knew
they were world-famous, because Grandma said so. It had to be true.
Grandma was home, and the buns were still warm. Between bites, I told
her everything. She was ready for me. "No Santa Claus!" she snorted.
"Ridiculous! Don't believe it. That rumor has been going around for
years, and it makes me mad, plain mad. Now, put on your coat, and let's go."
"Go? Go where, Grandma?" I asked. I hadn't even finished my second
world-famous, cinnamon bun. "Where" turned out to be Kerby's General
Store, the one store in town that had a little bit of just about
everything.
As we walked through its doors, Grandma handed me ten dollars. That
was a bundle in those days. "Take this money," she said, "and buy
something for someone who needs it. I'll wait for you in the car."
Then she turned and walked out of Kerby's.
I was only eight years old. I'd often gone shopping with my mother,
but never had I shopped for anything all by myself. The store seemed
big and crowded, full of people scrambling to finish their Christmas
shopping. For a few moments I just stood there, confused, clutching
that ten- dollar bill, wondering what to buy, and who on earth to buy it for.
I thought of everybody I knew: my family, my friends, my neighbors,
the kids at school, the people who went to my church. I was just
about thought out, when I suddenly thought of BobbyDecker. He was a kid
with bad breath and messy hair, and he sat right behind me in Mrs.Pollock 's
grade-two class. Bobby Decker didn't have a coat. I knew that because he never
went out for >recess during the winter. His mother always wrote a note, telling the
teacher that he had a cough, but all we kids knew that Bobby Decker didn't have a
cough, and he didn't have a coat. I fingered the ten-dollar bill with growing excitement. I would buy Bobby Deckera coat!
I settled on a red corduroy one that had a hood to it. It looked
real warm, and he would like that. "Is this a Christmas present for
someone?" the lady behind the counter asked kindly, as I laid my ten
dollars down.
"Yes," I replied shyly. "It's .... for Bobby." The nice lady smiled
at me. I didn't get any change, but she put the coat in a bag and wished me a
Merry Christmas.
That evening, Grandma helped me wrap the coat in Christmas paper and
ribbons (a little tag fell out of the coat, and Grandma tucked it in her Bible) and wrote, "To Bobby, From Santa Claus" on it -- Grandma said that Santa always insisted on secrecy. Then she drove me over to Bobby Decker's house, explaining as we went that I was now and forever officially one of Santa's helpers.
Grandma parked down the street from Bobby's house, and she and I crept noiselessly and
hid in the bushes by his front walk. Then Grandma gave me a nudge. "All right, Santa
Claus," she whispered, "get going."
I took a deep breath, dashed for his front door, threw the present down on his step, rung his doorbell and flew back to the safety of the bushes and Grandma. Together we waited
breathlessly in the darkness for the front door to open. Finally it did, and there stood Bobby.
Fifty years haven't dimmed the thrill of those moments spent shivering, beside my Grandma, in BobbyDecker's bushes. That night, I realized that those awful rumors about Santa Claus were just what Grandma said they were: ridiculous. Santa was alive and well, and we were on his team.
I still have the Bible, with the tag tucked inside: $19.95.
=================================================================
He who has no Christmas in his heart will never find Christmas under a tree.
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