By: Me
A few years ago things were just not going well for me literally. I look
back on it as God's Way of getting the attention of a whole lot of
people as it seemed if it was not one thing happening it was another.
If it snowed, it would melt and cause ice dams on my roof or if it
snowed it never melted and the ice would form slowly and cause the
joists to sag. It was just one medley of grief followed by another.
Christmas was no better or I should say Christmas eve was no better. It
had been storming or 20 below for weeks and when I finally did get to
town for some shopping it was more because my equipment had exploded and
I stood all day in the snow and cold, freezing trying to get frozen
parts loose.
To top it all off some old codger was in the way in the stores making
eyes at some clerk who was trying to help me, then there was the someone
who stole the thing I was going to buy out of my cart so when I got
there my purchases were not there and on the way home the car just went
chug and quit with everything closed for the great Christmas
festival..........I could hardly call it a holy day or holiday at that
point with the melting words I was cussing at the world.
I sat there thinking with a cell phone to call the world, but no help on
the other end to call when I noticed a light in an old shack about a
mile away. I had known that place was abandoned for years, but at least
seeing a light there gave me hope that my tennis shoes would be rewarded
for a mile plunge through the snow with frozen socks.
I tried to tell myself the night was nice in the walk, but it was winter
and no matter what you tell yourself winter is always cold, snow is
always wet and cold and the only thing good about winter is when it is over.
So when I came puffing out of breath to the shack I was so pleased to
see there were not lights there and all that was there was a squirrel
digging at the side of the house, because he probably didn't have a cell
phone with no one to call either.
Like a dope, I banged on the door anyway.........and as I stood banging,
the door opened and I popped an old guy in the head much to his surprise
and mine.
"Sorry", I said.
"Interesting greeting," he replied.
I told him the car had given out and he seemed quite pleased and let me
in. I looked around and thought the snow looked allot more inviting than
that dark old kitchen when he said come on in and opened the door to the
living room and a breath of warmth came out of it.
Cheery was not exactly the word for the living room as he had a wood
burner going burning corn cobs piled up by the side and somewhere he had
found a branch off an evergreen tree and had it stuck in a bucket of
sand with ornaments that looked either thrown away or blown off someone
else's lawn directions.
"Have a seat," he said, "You're just in time to open presents".
I kind of looked at him puzzled and sat down.
He then pulled a canvas tarp off a wheel barrel which was loaded with
presents.
"Here this one is for you," he said as he rummaged around the packages
and handed me a tin box with a picture of 2 kids and a snowman on it.
I was blinking and frowning trying to figure out what it was and turned
it over and it said:
To: Grandma and Grampa
From: Carmen Carey Adam
Looking at the old man, I opened the lid and it was empty.
"Well looky what I got here," he said beaming, "The President and First
Lady have sent me a present".
Sure enough the package was a tin box like mine with a tag scrawled on
it in old man's handwriting:
To: Gus
From: Your best friends in the world, President and First Lady
He opened his and it had fudge inside.
"Here have some," he said and then added, "The First Lady always makes
great fudge".
He went to rummaging around in the packages again and found presents
from, Gilligan although he had died years before, John
Wayne..........same kind of dead longer ago, and then some from his
"sweetheart" who gave him a thrift store sweater with the a $2.50 tag on
it and various other people.
Prince Charles of England gave him a pair of worn rubber boots, the
Centerfold of the Month gave him a frying pan slightly used and he got
an opened gallon bottle of cognac which had homemade wine it from Dan
Quayle.
His dog even got a bag of doggy treats from a secret admirer.
"You have allot of interesting friends," I told the guy on my second tin
cup of wine.
"Sure do," he said grinning," and I even got someone for me and doggy to
share all of it with as it sure beats sitting here without all those
funny presents people get from people who don't even care to go shopping
for us".
"I guess it does," I smiled as he filled up my 303 soup can again.
I noticed it was kind of nice sitting there listening to that old guy
rattle on about things which I never knew were half fact or half
senility. He would be telling me some story about his youth in plowing
through snow to deliver medicine to some sick kid and then throw in on
the way back he met John Kennedy in a cornfield eating hard corn on the
cob as he was hungry and hadn't had time to stop for lunch.........so
the old guy stopped and joined him.
Somewhere in the night, I drifted off and woke up to a cold empty house
and a note pinned to my coat written on a torn feed bag:
Hey you, I went to Church and on the way I stopped by your car and got
it running. It is parked outside. Don't leave the door open as I
wouldn't want to warm up the outside. Merry Christmas.
Gus
I got up and sure enough there was my car parked outside and it actually
ran.
I never saw anyone at that place again and even stopped a few
times.........never even had the bravery to admit my story to anyone
that it happened.
I still have my tin box though and look at it every Christmas wondering
about that night........and I always think after awhile, Christmas
really wasn't so bad that year after all.
agtG
