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White Envelope

White Envelope

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by: deltadawn Active Indicator LED Icon 8 OP 
~ 8 years ago   Dec 18, '15 1:15pm  
Christmas Story: For the Man Who Hated Christmas By Nancy W. Gavin
It's just a small, white envelope stuck among the branches of our
Christmas tree. No name, no identification, no inscription. It has
peeked through the branches of our tree for the past ten years.
It all began because my husband Mike hated Christmas. Oh, not the true
meaning of Christmas, but the commercial aspects of it – overspending
and the frantic running around at the last minute to get a tie for Uncle
Harry and the dusting powder for Grandma – the gifts given in
desperation because you couldn't think of anything else. Knowing
he felt this way, I decided one year to bypass the usual shirts,
sweaters, ties and so forth. I reached for something special just for
Mike. The inspiration came in an unusual way. Our son Kevin, who
was 12 that year, was on the wrestling team at the school he attended.
Shortly before Christmas, there was a non-league match against a team
sponsored by an inner-city church. These youngsters, dressed in sneakers
so ragged that shoestrings seemed to be the only thing holding them
together, presented a sharp contrast to our boys in their spiffy blue
and gold uniforms and sparkling new wrestling shoes. As the match
began, I was alarmed to see that the other team was wrestling without
headgear, a kind of light helmet designed to protect a wrestler's ears.
It was a luxury the ragtag team obviously could not afford. Well,
we ended up walloping them. We took every weight class. Mike, seated
beside me, shook his head sadly, "I wish just one of them could have
won," he said. "They have a lot of potential, but losing like this could
take the heart right out of them." Mike loved kids – all kids. He so
enjoyed coaching little league football, baseball and lacrosse. That's
when the idea for his present came. That afternoon, I went to a
local sporting goods store and bought an assortment of wrestling
headgear and shoes, and sent them anonymously to the inner-city church.
On Christmas Eve, I placed a small, white envelope on the tree, the note
inside telling Mike what I had done, and that this was his gift from
me. Mike's smile was the brightest thing about Christmas that
year. And that same bright smile lit up succeeding years. For each
Christmas, I followed the tradition – one year sending a group of
mentally handicapped youngsters to a hockey game, another year a check
to a pair of elderly brothers whose home had burned to the ground the
week before Christmas, and on and on. The white envelope became
the highlight of our Christmas. It was always the last thing opened on
Christmas morning, and our children – ignoring their new toys – would
stand with wide-eyed anticipation as their dad lifted the envelope from
the tree to reveal its contents. As the children grew, the toys gave way
to more practical presents, but the small, white envelope never lost
its allure. The story doesn't end there. You see, we lost Mike
last year due to dreaded cancer. When Christmas rolled around, I was
still so wrapped in grief that I barely got the tree up. But Christmas
Eve found me placing an envelope on the tree. And the next morning, I
found it was magically joined by three more. Unbeknownst to the others,
each of our three children had for the first time placed a white
envelope on the tree for their dad. The tradition has grown and someday
will expand even further with our grandchildren standing to take down
that special envelope. Mike's spirit, like the Christmas spirit will always be with us. 4951
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klp1972 Active Indicator LED Icon 7
~ 8 years ago   Dec 18, '15 1:21pm  
That's a wonderful story... Brought tears to my eyes, but in a good way!!  Emoticon 4951
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SandyKnee Active Indicator LED Icon 12
~ 8 years ago   Dec 18, '15 1:21pm  
[ Removed By Request ] 4951
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landlady Active Indicator LED Icon 2
~ 8 years ago   Dec 18, '15 2:14pm  
@deltadawn that is my all time favorite Christmas story! How wonderful. Thank you for posting. 4951
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Safety44 Active Indicator LED Icon 5
~ 8 years ago   Dec 18, '15 2:48pm  
@Deltadawn:
 
Thank you so much for your story.
 
It also brought tears to my eyes in a good way.
 
I'm sure their are many good stories put their but this must be on the top of the list.
 
So sorry you lost Mike but I'm equally happy you had each other while you did. And very glad you have such fond memories.
 
May you, your children and you grand children carry this forward forever.
 
God Bless 4951
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beadweaver Active Indicator LED Icon 8
~ 8 years ago   Dec 18, '15 3:04pm  
Now you made me cry.
Happy tears for the love you shared and the traditions and lessons you taught so many.
Tears of sadness for your family and the grief of your loss.
I smile knowing there are all of you to carry on the tradition and the kindness.
Merry Christmas to you and your family. 4951
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deltadawn Active Indicator LED Icon 8 OP 
~ 8 years ago   Dec 18, '15 3:11pm  
Thank you so much for your story.
 
@Safety44: Thank you, but it isn't my story, I'm just sharing it.
4951
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deltadawn Active Indicator LED Icon 8 OP 
~ 8 years ago   Dec 18, '15 3:13pm  
Tears of sadness for your family and the grief of your loss.
 
@beadweaver: Again, not my story, just sharing. Don't want to take credit for a story I didn't write.
4951
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Safety44 Active Indicator LED Icon 5
~ 8 years ago   Dec 18, '15 3:39pm  

- - - - - - - -
>> Thank you so much for your story.
 
@Safety44: Thank you, but it isn't my story, I'm just sharing it.
 
@deltadawn:
 
Thanks for letting us share then. It is a great heart warming story and one that should be remembered year round.
 
Thanks again 4951
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Safety44 Active Indicator LED Icon 5
~ 8 years ago   Dec 18, '15 3:40pm  

- - - - - - - -
>> Thank you so much for your story.
 
@Safety44: Thank you, but it isn't my story, I'm just sharing it.
 
@deltadawn:
 
Thanks for letting us share then. It is a great heart warming story and one that should be remembered year round.
 
Thanks again 4951
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beadweaver Active Indicator LED Icon 8
~ 8 years ago   Dec 18, '15 3:58pm  

- - - - - - - -
>> Tears of sadness for your family and the grief of your loss.
 
@beadweaver: Again, not my story, just sharing. Don't want to take credit for a story I didn't write.
 
@deltadawn:
 
Still beautiful. 4951
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bp2018 Active Indicator LED Icon 10
~ 8 years ago   Dec 18, '15 3:59pm  
Darn hormones got me all emotional reading this. What a lovely story, and one we could all do to remember. 4951
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deltadawn Active Indicator LED Icon 8 OP 
~ 8 years ago   Dec 18, '15 4:05pm  
Shared it because it tugged the ol' heart strings. 4951
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Safety44 Active Indicator LED Icon 5
~ 8 years ago   Dec 18, '15 4:10pm  
This story keeps running through my head. From my first memories of my father, I remember him always carrying his money in plain white envelopes, owned a billfold but never used it.
 
He had a Christmas thing. He would get a bunch of white envelopes and put money in each one. Then, he would distribute them to all his friends up and down the river front in St Louis.
 
It was never much, just a few bucks. He couldn't afford much because of us 9 kids.
His theory was, the poorer his friends were, the more they got.
 
As we turned 16, we got out last present from dad. From that Christmas on, we got a small white envelope.
 
We're all grown and old now but we each cherish the sight of those small white envelopes and memories of the love they contained.
 
By the way, I haven't missed a Christmas of flowers on that old mans grave since he left us and pray someone, someday feels the same about this old man.
 
Christmas is indeed the best time of the year.
 
Merry Christmas Everyone.
 
By the way, my father and his parents were immigrants from the old country and could not read or write English well but he was a good American. 4951
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SandyKnee Active Indicator LED Icon 12
~ 8 years ago   Dec 18, '15 9:39pm  
[ Removed By Request ] 4951
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deltadawn Active Indicator LED Icon 8 OP 
~ 8 years ago   Dec 18, '15 9:46pm  
@SandyKnee - thanks for citing the original source. I did include the author's name. 4951
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