Our Christmas Angel

The Teacher

I'd like to share a true story with you. It is one of my fondest memories, and is the story of how a retired school teacher had a wonderful impact on my family, and taught my children one of the greatest lessons in life.

In December of the year 2000, I landed a contract programming mainframe computers for an investment company in Tacoma, Washington. My wife was 7 months pregnant with our 5th child, and my other four children ranged in age from 15 to 7. Suddenly, I was earning almost 100,000 a year, and we moved into a huge 5 bedroom home 2 days before Christmas.

We had a great Christmas that year, and after our baby was born I was convinced that we had finally made it. I could finally provide my children with the lifestyle that they deserved. We ate out almost every night, and splurged on lots of silly things.

The Fall

In August of 2001, I signed a three year extension to this lucrative contract, and was so excited. Having this future planned out that would see us all financially secure made me a little blind to reality. We spent money as if it grew on trees, and I hadn't even thought about saving for the proverbial rainy-day.

Then, on September 11, when those towers fell in New York City, they brought my world down with them. The investment company that I was working for felt the economic waves that were created that morning, and terminated all of their programming contracts. I discovered the hard way just what the 'right of rescission' meant, and suddenly all of my plans and dreams were gone, in the blink of an eye.

As September gave way to October that year, my wife and I found ourselves living in a travel trailer at a State Park campground, with 3 dogs and 5 kids, the youngest just starting to walk. My income had gone from upper middle class, to the poverty level overnight. I was reduced to surviving on a weekly Unemployment check while I looked for work. Needless to say I was feeling very bitter and depressed.

The Gift

We were still in that trailer, moving from campground to campground throughout the fall. Thanksgiving came and went, and Christmas was approaching. By scrimping wherever we could, my wife and I had managed to set aside about $100.00 for the holiday, and gifts for the kids. It was sure to be a thin Christmas, but we would still make it as happy as possible for our family.

My youngest son made a friend that November, as only a 7 year old can, and the two boys spent many days together. This other young fellow was at the campground visiting his grandmother, who had retired from a lifetime of teaching elementary school and was traveling in her RV. She took the boys on many a nature walk, and even helped them to make homemade Christmas presents for their families, using pine cones and bark with string and construction paper and some old used candles.

About a week before Christmas, my son was gloomy. His friend's grandma was going to be moving on, and they would probably never see each other again. His new-found friend stopped by our campsite on the morning that they left, and his grandmother stopped by as well, for a cup of campfire coffee. We thanked her for the time she spent with the boys, and the help she gave them with their gifts.

Speechless

As she was leaving, she turned to my wife and said, "Oh, I almost forgot. This is for your family." She handed my wife an envelope, and then with a smile and a wave, she was gone. My wife and I looked at one another in curiosity, and she opened the envelope. Inside was a card, and as my wife read it, her eyes filled with tears. I asked her what it said, and she just handed it to me, unable to speak.

The card was just a simple Christmas card, like any other you might find at the store. It had a typical graphic, and was only printed with the words Merry Christmas. However when I opened it up, I was rocked to my core.

Inside was a hand written message that said

"I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do. May your family be blessed this Christmas."

Attached to the card on the inside by a paper-clip, were ten crisp twenty dollar bills.

The Lesson

To this day, this wonderful woman's spirit of love and compassion moves me to tears, and I wish I could have thanked her in person. She'll never know that in one single moment she not only tripled our Christmas budget, but she also showed us the true meaning of Christmas. Her gift was more than just generous, it touched all of our lives in a huge way.

The following year was a better one, and one of the ways that we attempted to pay it forward a little bit, was to take Christmas dinner to a few people who were in that campground for the holiday. Giving away those food bags felt as good inside as getting any present I ever remember.

Sometimes the special angels in your life appear from nowhere, and they touch you before moving on.I wish that I had known our Christmas angel better, for the day she gave us her gift, I became her student, and I hope that someday I too, can change a family's life like she did ours that day.

This desire lives deep inside me, and was shared

From Grandpa's Heart ...