The following true story was told to us today by a very dear friend, and we were so touched we asked her to write it and with her permission, allow us to post it so others can read a true Christmas story.

My Christmas Story

We are creatures of habit for the most part–all humans are. We tend to stick to routines. There’s a certain amount of comfort in following a routine–knowing what to expect and when to expect it. You may take the same route to work every day and find yourself behind the same car at the same stop light on most days. The only reason you might notice this car amid hundreds of others is because of a funny bumper sticker or unique license plate. You see the same school bus and the same group of kids waiting for that bus–and the only day you might notice the bus or the kids is if you have to stop for the blinking red lights on that bus and wait for those kids to load up so you can be back on your way.

On the days that I work, I leave my house at the same time and follow the same route. I am usually behind a silver Toyota Camry with a Butler High School decal on the trunk. I have noticed that whenever she is behind me, she takes the first opportunity to get in the left lane and pass me–so she always ends up in front of me. Today I noticed she had two new Christmas decals on either side of the usual orange Butler bulldog paw. Not a big thing to notice, but something different that caught my eye. It won’t be far up the road before she slows our lane of traffic down to make a right turn into a small development. In my mind, I wave goodbye and say “I’ll see ya tomorrow.”

There is somebody else I’ve noticed from time to time. A little boy, about 9-years-old, waiting at a bus stop out in front of one of those pay-by-the-week motels just around the corner from my office. Sometimes I see his mother waiting with him and sometimes I imagine she gets him to the bus stop and heads to work herself. I have found myself wondering how it is that they ended up living there. The mother looks like she’s had a hard life and when looking at her for the brief moments as I pass by, I wonder if she’s running from something or someone.

I live in the south where it doesn’t get terribly cold and we rarely see snow. But it gets cold enough. Yesterday the temperature was 22 degrees when I left my house. I had to scrape a good layer of frost off my windshield before I could leave home and I was thankful I had remembered my gloves. Today the temperature was a bit warmer at 38 degrees, but it was raining…a cold rain. Both days I have noticed this little boy more than usual because he was not wearing a coat of any kind. All he had on against the cold and rain was a sweatshirt. Today he was jumping up & down and shaking himself trying to stay warm as the rain continued to come down on him.

I was only blocks away from work and I began to cry. I knew today had to be different–not only for me but for that little boy. In the next few minutes I had a plan.

When I got to work, I immediately went into my supervisor’s office and told her I had an idea that I wanted to tell her about. We hadn’t yet made any definite plans for an office Christmas party and we usually get each other something frivolous that we don’t really need. I was still crying as I told her about this little boy without a coat in the cold & rain. I asked her if we could bypass those $5 & $10 gifts this year and instead pool the money together to get this little boy a coat, hat & gloves. I could see how touched she was as she reached into her wallet and pulled out some money. I went around to several other coworkers and many were no longer dry eyed and all of them willingly donated—some giving me all the cash they had in their wallets at the time.

I work for the corporate office of a small retail company. We have 6 stores in the area and we sell shoes, boots, dancewear, horse equipment and even some outerwear. So when I approached the boss, he told me he would give me some gloves for the boy and that would be his donation. A short while later, he called me back to the warehouse and he had a selection of coats he had pulled out. He told me to pick one that I thought would fit the boy and he would sell it to me at his cost (which is roughly ½ of the retail price). He said he’d rather do that & see the kid get a really nice coat than to have me go to a discount store and pay more money for a cheaper coat. I picked a nice one out of the pile…a Wrangler coat with flannel lining and a hood. He later brought the pair of gloves he had promised me to my desk so all that was left to get was a hat. After paying for the coat, I still had $71 of donated money to spend on the little boy. I went to Walmart after work and found a hat and a few sweet treats to put in his gift bag to make it even more special. I also got his mother a box of chocolates and put the remaining $55 on a Walmart gift card for the mother to use for groceries or presents.

My plan was to leave for work early tomorrow morning and try to catch the mother walking her son to the bus stop so I could give them the gift bags since I didn’t want to approach the boy if he was out there by himself. But I also wanted him to have the coat to wear in the morning in case it was bitterly cold once again. I decided to drive to the motel this evening and ask whoever was in the management office if they knew where the little boy who waits out front for the bus lives. I was a bit nervous to knock on someone’s door like this, but I wanted him to have his coat before morning. As I pulled into the driveway of the motel, this boy & his mother were walking towards me. They were headed out for dinner I assume. The boy had a short sleeve shirt on and the sun was going down. I quickly did a U-turn and pulled up behind them and opened my window. I had to holler a bit for the woman to hear me over the noise of traffic. I got her attention and she stopped to talk to me. I got out of my car and asked her if this was her little boy and if he was the one I see at the bus stop every morning. She hesitantly answered yes and then wanted to know why I was asking. I told her that I see him every day and I was worried that he had no coat–especially these last two days when it was so cold. I told her that my coworkers and I wanted to do something for them for Christmas and since I had no idea if she would be offended or not, I asked her to please accept the gifts in the spirit that they were being given. She said that he did have a coat but that it is at her other son’s house and they have no way to get it. I told her that she didn’t have to worry about that any longer, as I handed him the giant bag filled with the warmth that every child deserves. She began to cry…and I did too. As I handed her the small gift bag with the chocolates and gift card, she hugged me and thanked me. As she stepped back, I felt two small arms around my waist and I looked down to see this little boy with his arms wrapped around me. I hugged him back and wished him a very Merry Christmas.

I look forward to my drive to work tomorrow-I hope to see him at the bus stop, wearing his new coat. I still don’t know his name, and they don’t know mine…and that’s the way it should be. My routine was broken today and I’m so thankful for that. By giving him the gift of a warm coat, I can now truly feel the warm spirit of Christmas all around me.

-bjy-
12/19/07