Charlotte's Gift of the Magi story
The year that Mother and Daddy got divorced was a rough Christmas for me. The first thing I said when I heard about the divorce was, "But what about Christmas and birthdays???" so when Christmas came, we were all looking for ways to get thru the season.
For over a year, I had been saving money to buy myself a set of Little House on the Prairie books. They had just come out with them in a paperback set and I longed and longed to buy them. Money was always tight in those days when I was a single mother and I just didn't have $25.00 to buy those books for myself. Because I worked for the church, I got a discount at Deseret Book, and so every night on the way home from work, I would stop and press my nose to the store window and count how long it would be before I could save up the $20.00 I needed to buy them with my discount. $20 seemed so much closer than $25. It was a lot of money in those days. As it got closer to Christmas, I thought I might be able to treat myself, and buy them as a gift for Blake to give me.
Mother had moved into a tiny cabin and was also having a hard time earning her own way. So Earlene and I decided to pool our extra money and surprise her with a box of personal supplies that we knew she couldn't afford. It had been a tradition in our neighborhood before the divorce to leave a gift box on someone's door in a year when they had a hard time and we wanted to continue it for her. So we went shopping and bought all her favorite brands of products and left the box on her step while she was at work. We got home around 9:00 and felt very good about our sacrifice and I didn't feel that bad about having to wait another year to get my Little House books. When Mother got home around midnight, there was a car in her drive that spun away when she pulled up. She assumed it was whoever dropped off the gift box, but it was probably someone getting ready to steal the box and she got home just in time to save her present. It took her a bit to figure who had left it, since of course, she didn't recognize the car that was driving off. After she examined it carefully and realized it was all her personal favorites, she knew that it had to be us because no one could randomally guess all her favorites.
On Christmas, we all made the brave decision to open our presents one last time as a family. It was a very emotional and special day to spend together. I don't have any idea what anybody got for Christmas that year, I just remember thinking about what I was feeling. After everyone opened their gifts, I noticed that there was one plain little box under the tree - no ribbon, no box, no tag. I mentioned it and someone brought it over to me and I stammered - "it's for me?? Who's it from?" but no one would say. I tore open the paper and saw my box of books. I just started to cry and cry. I still treasure them for what they symbolized to me that day - my family coming together one last time to help make my Christmas truly magical. My own gift of the Magi story. It is one of my most precious memories.
For over a year, I had been saving money to buy myself a set of Little House on the Prairie books. They had just come out with them in a paperback set and I longed and longed to buy them. Money was always tight in those days when I was a single mother and I just didn't have $25.00 to buy those books for myself. Because I worked for the church, I got a discount at Deseret Book, and so every night on the way home from work, I would stop and press my nose to the store window and count how long it would be before I could save up the $20.00 I needed to buy them with my discount. $20 seemed so much closer than $25. It was a lot of money in those days. As it got closer to Christmas, I thought I might be able to treat myself, and buy them as a gift for Blake to give me.
Mother had moved into a tiny cabin and was also having a hard time earning her own way. So Earlene and I decided to pool our extra money and surprise her with a box of personal supplies that we knew she couldn't afford. It had been a tradition in our neighborhood before the divorce to leave a gift box on someone's door in a year when they had a hard time and we wanted to continue it for her. So we went shopping and bought all her favorite brands of products and left the box on her step while she was at work. We got home around 9:00 and felt very good about our sacrifice and I didn't feel that bad about having to wait another year to get my Little House books. When Mother got home around midnight, there was a car in her drive that spun away when she pulled up. She assumed it was whoever dropped off the gift box, but it was probably someone getting ready to steal the box and she got home just in time to save her present. It took her a bit to figure who had left it, since of course, she didn't recognize the car that was driving off. After she examined it carefully and realized it was all her personal favorites, she knew that it had to be us because no one could randomally guess all her favorites.
On Christmas, we all made the brave decision to open our presents one last time as a family. It was a very emotional and special day to spend together. I don't have any idea what anybody got for Christmas that year, I just remember thinking about what I was feeling. After everyone opened their gifts, I noticed that there was one plain little box under the tree - no ribbon, no box, no tag. I mentioned it and someone brought it over to me and I stammered - "it's for me?? Who's it from?" but no one would say. I tore open the paper and saw my box of books. I just started to cry and cry. I still treasure them for what they symbolized to me that day - my family coming together one last time to help make my Christmas truly magical. My own gift of the Magi story. It is one of my most precious memories.
posted by jed-laura | 8:59 PM
3 Comments:
Thanks for sharing! What a great story! - Paul
I'd never heard that story before. Thanks for sharing it with us. Laura's parents decided to try and brave their last Christmas together as a family after their divorce. It was good to be together as a whole family for that time of year.
-Love, Jed and Laura
Wow. What a sweet story. I wasn't there in those years, so it wasn't a story I knew. Thank you so much for sharing it. I love you, Sandra
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