COLUMN: Merry Christmas

I’m going to paraphrase, and probably embellish, the following story I heard during a Christmas Eve service many years ago in Greenfield. To this day, it is still one of the better sermons I’ve heard. I still wonder if it was a true story. I just hope it was and continues to be a true story, done over and over again in various ways, in years to come.

There were three men who regularly met at the same restaurant for coffee during their break from work, after-church Sunday dinners with their families or a dessert after a Friday night high school game.

Over several months, the men got to personally know one of the waitresses who served them whenever she got the chance. She liked their company and wanted to be with them. Being good Christians, the three established a genuine relationship with the young 30-something woman. The three learned the woman was a single-mom with two elementary-school age kids. The kids’ dad walked out years ago. Child support hasn’t been seen either.

Mom guessed the fears and pressures of being dad were like the devil sitting on his shoulder telling him to leave, but their marriage was never strong enough to fully talk to each other about what was on their minds.

The woman had moved from town-to-town and job-to-job in hopes of making her life, and her kids’ lives, better.

Discussions while clearing plates and refilling coffee cups were not all doom-and-gloom because of the woman’s situation. They would talk about how good the tomatoes are in the garden, guesses who would win the World Series or how much rain was in gauges from the recent storm.

Some of those stories revealed a little more about the woman and her kids. The apartment she lived in was livable, but not what was dreamed. If the rain was hard enough, a bucket had to be used in the kitchen. The kids’ had to share a room and an extra blanket was needed during the winter months because the furnace wasn’t always reliable.

School provided lunch, but when one of the kids was too sick to go to school, mom usually had to pray and scramble to find somebody to watch the kid so she wouldn’t miss a shift and the income to provide. Usually another restaurant employee knew somebody, who knew somebody, who could watch the kid.

She didn’t want to miss work, but knew her kid felt a bit better if she, too, had to stay home if no one could be found. The restaurant’s owner had an understanding heart, too.

With advance planning, the woman could sometimes find a high school girl, who were also fellow waitresses, to watch the kids during some evenings so she could work a little more and make a little more. The mom paid a bit extra for the kids to be at the girl’s house so they could feel continual warmth and watch cartoons on a pay-TV service.

Saved tip money helped pay for those days.

The restaurant owner didn’t have a problem with employees taking home the leftovers from that day’s special, if there were any. The mom was a bit depressed that she sometimes had to serve her kids that night what she worked with all day long. But it was better than nothing and further depleting what was in the kitchen cupboard.

After Thanksgiving, the waitress tried to not show her depression and anxiety of wanting to have her kids wake up to something on Christmas Day. In the past, she tried her hardest, but usually settled for something cheaper at the discount store. She knew going to the fancy stores down the street would be a financial mistake.

The three men never thought the woman was over-exaggerating the situation she and her kids were in. The three men decided they wanted the woman to have at least one Christmas with hope and being content, rather than disappointment.

The families of three men joined forces and their kids came up with two gifts each for the kids; one fun and the other practical. The men’s wives came up with a gift certificate from one of those stores down the street so the woman could walk in with joy. The men left a note informing the woman arrangements have been made to give her car the fixes it needs. All she had to do was schedule the date.

Bags of groceries for a Christmas dinner she could make at home, and have leftovers, plus some candy for the kids, were also in the bag.

All of the gifts were left in the woman’s car while she was working. Once her shift was done, she walked to her car and noticed the bags and boxes in the seats. The feeling of being startled and curious because of the items quickly turned into tears as she sat behind the wheel reading the Christmas card left pinched between the wiper blade and windshield.

“Thanks for not only being our favorite waitress, but being our friend too. Christmas is all about giving. We hope you all enjoy your gifts.”

It was signed by all of the mens’ families.

Merry Christmas