That wonderful story goes in my Memory Book..Have a Great Holiday ...Dixie
Jay in West Texas
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jane Foley" <mjfent(a)bellsouth.net
To:
<CALDWELL-L(a)rootsweb.com
Sent: Saturday, December 25, 2004
6:28 PM
Subject: [CALDWELL-L] Christmas 1881
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! from North Carolina. I hope that
everyone finds that missing piece of their family puzzle in 2005!
Jane Foley
Isn't This What Christmas Is About?
Pa never had such compassion for the lazy or those who squandered
their means
and then never had enough for the necessities. But for those
who were genuinely in need, his heart was as big as all outdoors.
It was from him that I learned the greatest joy in life comes from
giving,
not from receiving. It was Christmas Eve 1881. I was fifteen years
old and feeling like the world had caved in on me because there just hadn't
been enough money to buy me the rifle that I'd wanted for Christmas. We did
the chores early that night for some reason. I just figured Pa wanted a
little extra
time so we could read in the Bible. After supper was over I
took my
boots off and stretched out in front of the fireplace and waited for Pa to
get down the old Bible.
I was still feeling sorry for myself and to be honest, I wasn't in
much
of a mood to read Scriptures. But Pa didn't get the Bible, instead he
bundled up again and went outside. I couldn't figure it out because we had
already done all the chores. I didn't worry about it
long though, I was too busy wallowing in self-pity. Soon Pa
came
back in. It was a cold clear night out and there was ice in his beard.
Come on, Matt." he said. "Bundle up good, it's cold out
tonight."
I was really upset then. Not only wasn't I getting the rifle for
Christmas,
now Pa was dragging me out in the cold, and for no earthly reason that I
could see. We'd already done all the chores, and I couldn't think of
anything else that needed doing, especially not on a night like this. But,
I knew Pa was not very patient at one dragging one's feet when he'd told
them to do something, so I got up and put my boots back on and got my cap,
coat, and mittens. Ma gave me a mysterious smile as I opened the door to
leave the house. Something was up, but I didn't know what.
Outside, I became even more dismayed. There in front of the house
was the
work team, already hitched to the big sled. Whatever it was we were
going to do wasn't going to be a short, quick, little job. I could tell.
We never hitched up this sled unless we were going to haul a big load. Pa
was already up on the seat, reins in hand. I reluctantly climbed up beside
him. The cold was already biting at me. I wasn't happy. When I was on, Pa
pulled the sled around the house and stopped in front of the woodshed. He
got off and I followed. "I think we'll put on the high sideboards," he
said. "Here, help me." The high sideboards! It had been a bigger job than
I wanted to do with just the low sideboards on, but whatever it was we were
going to do would be a lot bigger with the high sideboards on. After we had
exchanged the sideboards, Pa went into the woodshed and came out with an
armload of wood---the wood I'd spent all Summer hauling down from the
mountain, and then!
all Fall sawing into blocks and splitting. What was he doing?
Finally I
said something.
"Pa," I asked, "What are you doing?" You been by the Widow
Jensen's
lately?" he asked. The Widow Jensen lived about two miles down
the road.
Her husband had died a year or so before and left her with three children,
the oldest being eight. Sure, I'd been by, but so what? "Yeah," I said,
"Why?" "I rode by just today, "Pa said. "Little Jakey was out
digging
around in the woodpile trying to find a few chips. They're out of wood,
Matt." That was all he said and then he turned and went back into the
woodshed for another armload of wood. I followed him. We loaded the sled
so high that I began to wonder if the horses would be able to pull it.
Finally, Pa called a halt to our loading, then we went to the smoke
house and
Pa took down a big ham and a side of bacon. He handed them to me
and told me to put them in the sled and wait. When he returned he was
carrying a sack of flour over his right shoulder and a smaller sack of
something in his left hand. "What's in the little sack?" I asked.
"Shoes.
They're out of shoes. Little Jakey just had gunny sacks wrapped around his
feet when he was out in the woodpile this morning. I got the children a
little candy too. It just wouldn't be Christmas without a little candy."
We rode the two miles to Widow Jensen's pretty much in silence. I
tried
to think through what Pa was doing. We didn't have much by worldly
standards. Of course, we did have a big woodpile, though most of what was
left now was still in the form of logs that I would have to
saw into blocks and split before we could use it. We also had
meat
and flour, so we could spare that, but I knew we didn't have any money, so
why was Pa buying them shoes and candy? Really, why was he doing any of
this? Widow Jensen had closer neighbors than us; it shouldn't have been our
concern. We came in from the blind side of the Jensen house and unloaded
the wood as quietly as possible, then we took the meat and flour and shoes
to the door. We knocked. The door opened a crack and a timid voice said,
"Who is it?" "Lucas Miles, Ma'am, and my son, Matt. Could we come in
for a
bit?" Widow Jensen opened the door and let us in. She had a blanket
wrapped around her shoulders. The children were wrapped in another and were
sitting in front of the fireplace by a very small fire that hardly gave off
any heat at all. Widow Jensen fumbled with a match and finally lit the
lamp. "We brought you a few things, Ma'am," Pa said and set down the sack
of flour. I put th!
e meat on the table. Then Pa handed her the sack that had the shoes
in
it. She opened it hesitantly and took the shoes out one pair at a time.
There was a pair for her and one for each of the children-- sturdy shoes,
the best, shoes that would last. I watched her carefully. She bit her
lower lip to keep it from trembling and then tears filled her eyes and
started running down her cheeks. She looked up at Pa like she wanted to say
something, but it wouldn't come out.
"We brought a load of wood too, Ma'am," Pa said. He turned to me
and said, "Matt, go bring in enough to last awhile. Let's get that fire
up
to size and heat this place up." I wasn't the same person when I went back
out to bring in the wood. I had a big lump in my throat and as much as I
hate to admit it, there were tears in my eyes too. In my mind I kept seeing
those three kids huddled around the fireplace and their mother standing
there with tears running down her cheeks with so much gratitude in her heart
that she couldn't speak. My heart swelled within me and a joy that I'd
never known before, filled my soul. I had given at Christmas many times
before, but never when it had made so much difference. I could see we were
literally saving the lives of these people. I soon had the fire blazing and
everyone's spirits soared. The kids started giggling when Pa handed them
each a piece of candy and Widow Jensen looked on with a smile that probably
hadn't crossed he!
r face for a long time. She finally turned to us. "God bless
you," she
said. "I know the Lord has sent you. The children and I have
been praying
that he would send one of his angels to spare us." In spite of myself, the
lump returned to my throat and the tears welled up in my eyes again. I'd
never thought of Pa in those exact terms before, but after Widow Jensen
mentioned it I could see that it was probably true.
I was sure that a better man than Pa had never walked the earth. I
started
remembering all the times he had gone out of his way for Ma and me,
and many others. The list seemed endless as I thought on it. Pa insisted
that everyone try on the shoes before we left. I was amazed when they all
fit and I wondered how he had known what sizes to get. Then I guessed that
if he was on an errand for the Lord that the Lord would make sure he got the
right sizes.
Tears were running down Widow Jensen's face again when we stood up
to
leave. Pa took each of the kids in his big arms and gave them a hug.
They clung to him and didn't want us to go. I could see that they missed
their Pa, and I was glad that I still had mine. At the door Pa turned to
Widow Jensen and said, "The Mrs. wanted me to invite you and the children
over for Christmas dinner tomorrow. The turkey will be more than the three
of us can eat, and a man can get cantankerous if he has to eat turkey for
too many meals. We'll be by to get you about eleven. It'll be nice to have
some little ones around again. Matt, here, hasn't been little for quite a
spell." I was the youngest. My two brothers and two sisters had all
married and had moved away. Widow Jensen nodded and said, "Thank you,
Brother Miles. I don't have to say, "'May the Lord bless you,' I know
for
certain that He will."
Out on the sled I felt a warmth that came from deep within and I
didn't
even notice the cold. When we had gone a ways, Pa turned to me and
said, "Matt, I want you to know something. Your ma and me have been tucking
a little money away here and there all year so we could buy that rifle for
you, but we didn't have quite enough. Then yesterday a man who owed me a
little money from years back came by to make things square. Your ma and me
were real excited, thinking that now we could get you that rifle, and I
started into town this morning to do just that. But on the way I saw little
Jakey out scratching in the woodpile with his feet wrapped in those gunny
sacks and I knew what I had to do. Son, I spent the money for shoes and a
little candy for those children. I hope you understand."
I understood, and my eyes became wet with tears again. I understood
very
well, and I was so glad Pa had done it. Now the rifle seemed very low
on my list of priorities. Pa had given me a lot more. He had given me the
look on Widow Jensen's face and the radiant smiles of her three children.
For the rest of my life, whenever I saw any of the Jensens, or split a block
of wood, I remembered, and remembering brought back that same joy I felt
riding home beside Pa that night. Pa had given me much more than a rifle
that night, he had given me the best Christmas of my life.
==============================
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