Fuel for Thought
The Unexpeded Gift
Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Let your heart be light
From now on your troubles
Will be out of sight
I always remember that year not only with clarity and sorrow, but also bittersweet joy thanks to the unexpected gift from friends. That year had been especially hard after my ex-husband and I had separated. A single mother of two children, one a special needs child, trying to make it on her own with little help financially or emotionally from the absentee parent and no emotional support or understanding from her family. By the end of summertime my finances were depleted and I was getting evicted. Faced with living out of my car, I was forced to let my children go live with their father, active-duty, shore-based military, while I tried to find stability.
In early December I had finally managed to save enough to move into a rented room in a house a few blocks from where I worked. It wasn't a place for kids, besides they were enrolled in school and mid-way through their year. And of course the ex and I were now on hostile terms.
This was the build up to my first Christmas without my kids, without my family. Honestly, my only contact besides those with whom I worked were those I spent time with online in my gaming world. They were moderately aware of my situation, some more than others. Most of us were fairly open with our lives, sharing daily activities, children's pictures, achievements, promotions, etc. The hardest thing for me to deal with was not being able to sit by the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve and read “The Night Before Christmas” to my kids. It was something I had done since my oldest's first Christmas. Christmas Eve traditions have always been especially important in my family.
One of my gaming friends, Bobby and his wife Theri, I've only ever known online from miles away. On Christmas Eve they had talked with others in our guild and got everyone together online. Everyone was on comm, meaning we were all logged in to our communication device, much like Skype now. The premise was to do something in the game as a guild for those that did not have Christmas Eve plans.
Bobby and Theri, apparently had their young children gathered around them, and when everyone was ready they asked me to please read “The Night Before Christmas” to them and their kids while the rest of the guild and their families listened. That night I sat in my rented room all alone, but I was surrounded by the love of friends from miles away, all over the country, and even a few overseas. All of them taking time out from their family holiday for a few minutes to make sure one of their long-distance friends wasn't completely alone on Christmas Eve. I don't know if they heard the tears in my voice, but that night, that request, was one of the best Christmas presents I have ever received.
It's been ten years and I have never met any of these people in person. Ten years later, I still keep in touch with Bobby and Theri, and still consider them the best of friends. Ten years later I still remember they gave me the most precious gift, the gift of time, of love, and a surrogate family when I needed it most. And ten years later he still has a recording of me singing Christmas Carols to his kids. He didn't get a clean recording of reading. After the story they asked me to sing carols with them, and unbeknownst to me he recorded one of the songs. My apologies to your precious ears on this Christmas Eve for the quality of my voice.
So you see, the best gift isn't always about how much you spend or how big the gift is, but how much it means to someone. You don't have to spend any money at all to give someone the best Christmas ever. When someone misses you and loves you, sometimes the most amazing gift of all is a little of your love and appreciation.
Merry Christmas Everyone!
~Sierra Sugar