We
had the Christmas tree in the kitchen that year, next to the church bench on
the long wall by the phone. Seemed
strange to my brothers and me to come down the creaking stairs Christmas
morning into the bleak, echoing living room where the very atmosphere was HARD
and gaping. Hardwood floors, bare
plastered walls, sharp corners, and high vaulted ceiling. Everything was unfamiliar after the summer fire
that had taken that side of the house. Not
even a whisper of past joy-filled Christmases remained.
But
then we entered the kitchen where the coloured lights twinkled on the tree, and
splayed into sprays, like fireworks, when we squinted our eyes at them. Mom already had Christmas breakfast baking in the
oven, filling our beings with warmth and promises.
We
sat down by the tree, Christmas oranges in hand, to listen to Dad read the
Christmas story. But none of us could
take our eyes off of the lone gift under, or rather, beside the tree. It was huge, oddly shaped, wrapped in a combination of newspaper
and three different kinds of wrapping paper.
My brothers and I exchanged wide-eyed wondering looks. Was it any wonder we couldn’t stay focused on
the Christmas story? No
matter. We all knew it off by heart
anyway:
“…
And the angel said unto them, ‘Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings
of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is
Christ the Lord…’”
Finally,
permission was given and my brothers and I ripped into the paper to discover
the trappings and skeleton of a trampoline!
Now,
any rational parent living on the prairies would never give a trampoline for a
Christmas gift. Where on earth do you
put it in -30 degree weather? Not to
mention four feet of snow? But my Dad was
full of surprises. Calculating. Ingenious.
He never did anything without thinking it through. When he realized that the living room would
be rebuilt in time for Christmas, but that no furniture could grace it until
spring, he contrived to fill it with a used trampoline for the winter. He was like that, my Dad, always finding ways
of turning hard things into joy.
So
that Christmas the stark living room was filled with squeals of joy as my
brothers and I took turns jumping on our best gift ever, and shouting, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth
peace, good will toward men!”
[This story was sparked by a writing prompt at Writers Cafe.]
photo credit: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/pkmousie/5304040347/">PKMousie</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">cc</a>
Love 'splayed into sprays'.
ReplyDeleteThis story intrigued me when you read us your first draft at our Writers Cafe.
This time I laughed out loud at the picture it conjured in my imagination. Your dad must have given your mother apoplexy at times! What a grand memory.
What a delightful story! I can just imagine the fun.
ReplyDeleteEven in the midst of loss you found joy. Wonderful story!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful memory, beautifully written! Could you jump high enough to touch the ceiling? Having brothers, I can just see the competition and joy.
ReplyDeleteThat's great! Your dad must've been one of those FUN dads! It also reminds me of the big old houses we lived in Ontario when we had no furniture to fill the huge rooms. To us kids it became an amusement park of turning the rooms into gymnasiums lol and hours spent sliding down huge banisters was great fun too. Love stories about kids at Christmas.
ReplyDeleteThank you for giving a clear picture of a wonderful Christmas memory ... I liked how you start the story-"We had the Christmas tree in the kitchen that year" Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteIt was great to hear/read this story again. Thanks Joy.
ReplyDelete