A Christmas Story

[Guest guest]

My sister sent me this story and I thought it was too beautiful not to share.

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I hurried into the local department store to grab some last minute

Christmas gifts. I looked at all the people and grumbled to myself.

I would be in here forever and I just had so much to do. Christmas

was beginning to become such a drag. I kinda wished that I could

just sleep through Christmas. But I hurried the best I could through

all the people to the toy department.

Once again I kind of mumbled to myself at the prices of all these

toys. And wondered if the grandkids would even play with them. I

found myself in the doll aisle. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a

little boy about 5 holding a lovely doll. He kept touching her hair

and he held her so gently. I could not seem to help myself. I just

kept looking over at the little boy and wondered who the doll was

for. I watched him turn to a woman and he called his aunt by name

and said, " Are you sure I don't have enough money " ? She replied a

bit impatiently, " You know that you don't have enough money for it.

The aunt told the little boy not to go anywhere that she had to go

get some other things and would be back in a few minutes. And then

she left the aisle. The boy continued to hold the doll.

After a bit I asked the boy who the doll was for. He said, " It is

the doll my sister wanted so badly for Christmas. She just knew that

Santa would bring it. " I told him that maybe Santa was going to

bring it. He said " No, Santa can't go where my sister is...I have to

give the doll to my Mamma to take to her " . I asked him where his

sister was. He looked at me with the saddest eyes and said " She has

gone to be with Jesus " . My Daddy says that Mama is going to have to

go be with her. " My heart nearly stopped beating. Then the boy

looked at me again and said, " I told my Daddy to tell Mama not to go

yet. I told him to tell her to wait till I got back from the store " .

Then he asked me if I wanted to see his picture. I told him I would

love to. He pulled out some pictures he'd had taken at the front of

the store. He said " I want my Mamma to take this with her so she

don't ever forget me. " " I love my Mama so very much and I wish she

did not have to leave me " . " But Daddy says she will need to be with

my sister. " I saw that the little boy had lowered his head and had

grown so very quiet. While he was not looking I reached into my

purse and pulled out a handful of bills. I asked the little boy,

" Shall we count that money one more time? He grew excited and said

" Yes, I just know it has to be enough " . So I slipped my money in

with his and we began to count it. Of course it was plenty for the

doll. He softly said, " Thank you Jesus for giving me enough money. "

Then the boy said " I just asked Jesus to give me enough money to buy

this doll so Mama can take it with her to give to my sister. " " And

he heard my prayer. " I wanted to ask him for enough to buy my Mama a

white rose, but I didn't ask him, but he gave me enough to buy the

doll and a rose for my Mama. " " She loves white roses so very, very

much " .

In a few minutes the aunt came back and I wheeled my cart away. I

could not keep from thinking about the little boy as I finished my

shopping in a totally different spirit than when I had started. And

I kept emembering a story I had seen in the newspaper several days

earlier about a drunk driver hitting a car and killing a little girl

and the Mother was in serious condition. The family was deciding on

whether to remove the life support. Now surely this little boy did

not belong with that story. Two days later I read in the paper where

the family had disconnected the life support and the young woman had

died. I could not forget the little boy and just kept wondering if

the two were somehow connected. Later that day, I could not help

myself and I went out and bought some white roses and took them to

the funeral home where the young woman was. And there she was

holding a lovely white rose, the beautiful doll, and the picture of

the little boy in the store. I left there in tears, my life changed

forever. The love that little boy had for his little sister and his

mother was overwhelming. And in a split second a drunk driver had

ripped the life of that little boy to pieces.

You now have the choice, you can:

1) pass this on to your friends, or

2) delete it and act like it didn't touch your heart

" Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our

wings have trouble remembering how to fly. "

-anonymous.