Once upon a time, there was a young man who lived in a small town out in the desert. He had a brother and two sisters and his father and mother always went out of their way to make Christmas a very special time of year.
Times were tough back then. His mother was a stay-at-home mom and the household finances were always tight. However, his mother was a great money-manager and she would always put a little money aside each week of the year so the family could enjoy a happy Christmas.
Back in those days, the giant Sears catalogs were delivered to every house in the neighborhood. His entire family would go through the catalog together and pick out the special gifts they wanted for Christmas. Everyone would write out a wish list of several gifts and then, the parents would decide which gifts to buy.
In the fall of each year, his mother would go down to the Sears store in town. This very small Sears store did not have much space to display items so almost everything had to be ordered. About a week or so later, the mother would go back to Sears and pick up all of the items after they were delivered to the store.
This young man’s mother was always sneaky about wrapping the Christmas gifts and she loved to surprise everyone. She knew that all of her kids would be picking up the gifts, shaking them around and trying to figure out what gifts were inside the boxes. She also knew they would hold the gifts up near bright lights and try to read the boxes wrapped inside.
On this particular year, his mother had really done a great job of wrapping this young man’s gifts. He picked up the boxes, shook them around, tried to read through the wrapping paper and still couldn’t figure out what was inside. The only thing he knew was that the boxes were extra light and whatever was inside must have been soft because there was very little sound when he shook the boxes. He was already disappointed because he knew that he didn’t get that special airplane, slot car or train set he had wished for.
This young man’s parents would always stick to a strict schedule on Christmas day. The kids would all get up early in the morning, anxious to open their gifts. But, as usual on Christmas day, the parents would sleep in. They must have really enjoyed making everyone wait as long as possible. Next, the mother would fix breakfast, everyone would eat and then, all of the dishes would have to be washed and put away. Oh, the kids would be literally going out of their minds by this time!
Hours later, everyone would gather around the Christmas tree and then the father would pass out the gifts, one at a time. Everyone would have to sit there, waiting and watching each other open their packages before the next gift was passed out.
It seemed like forever before this young man got his first gift to open. He got his gift and opened it up, only to find that he had got a new pack of underwear. His face was long but he thanked his parents for it, anyway.
This Christmas day hadn’t started out well for the young man. As he sat there and watched everyone opening their gifts and jumping for joy, he wondered if his parents had something special in his next gift box. But, when his turn came and he opened up his next gift, he found only a pack of new socks in the box. His face was really getting long by this time!
Well, that was it for his Christmas day, he thought. All of the gifts had been opened and the only things he gotten were socks and underwear.
His father was head of the household and since this young man was the oldest child, the father ordered him to pick up all of the empty boxes and wrapping paper, bag them up and take them out to the trash cans.
With his ever growing long face, the young man did as he was told. He packed up everything in big bags. He opened the front door, went outside and walked around the house toward the gate where the trash cans were kept.
When he opened the gate, he got the surprise of his life – a motorcycle was leaning against the trash cans. The young man couldn’t believe his eyes! He had wanted a motorcycle for years but his parents had always told him no, because they said that motorcycles were too dangerous. His parents were now watching him as he asked, “Is this for me?” The parents then yelled back, “Merry Christmas, son!”
It was a used motorcycle and the young man later found out that his father had paid $50.00 for it. But, to this young man, it was the best gift he had ever received.
The young man started it up, his younger brother hopped on the back and he rode it around the block. Little did the parents know, this was the beginning of the young man’s motorcycle and sprint car racing career.
We thought you’d enjoy this story of Christmas. Make someone’s day special this year and may all of you have the best Christmas of your life!
