~Thought For The Day~ Christmas Edition~ The Little Girl in the Red Sweater ©

     For my entire life there was a story that my Mom told me every Christmas, one that had been told to her by her father. Without fail, at just the right time she would pull me to her and tell me this tale. As my children were growing up, she relayed it to them. This week as we unpacked our Christmas ornaments, Luke reminded me of the story. I will now tell it to you and then follow with my thoughts.

I know a few details but will describe it as I saw it as she told it to me.

There was once a little girl. She was fair haired, she was meek, and she was poor. She had been walking by the local stores every day of the Christmas season, and there in the store front window was a baby doll that she wanted so very much. 

She knew she need not ask her Mother, because they barely had the money to eat. She looked at it so longingly. She loved that doll, and much to her sadness, that large glass window and the price tag she displayed kept her from calling this beautiful baby doll her very own.

She walked past it every day, she stared in wonder, and then she shuffled on.

She would straighten her little worn dress, and button up her thread bare, red sweater, heading back home to her family in the now building cold weather. Always hopeful for a Christmas miracle; she smiled as she left the store front.

I am not sure how it came to be, but by a miracle I would speculate, she was given enough money to finally open the large store door and enter inside to purchase that pretty baby doll that she was so very in love with.

She rushed inside, still very polite and meek, but very eager in her quest to have something of her own.

She walked with the store keep to the front, and carefully he placed this bundle of joy into her arms at last, she surely had a golden light shining around her as she was allowed at last to touch her baby.

As she left the store, smiling so huge, feeling so alive and so blessed, she noticed that it had turned frightfully cold and the snowflakes had begun to fall. She swirled and twirled with her new baby doll, feeling like the luckiest little girl in the world. She couldn’t wait to get home to show her Mama.

The snow falling at a faster rate, but feeling a little tired from the most exciting day she could ever remember. She saw a park bench and decided to take a short rest, it would be dark soon but if she sat for a moment she would have time to make it home before darkness and more snow fell.

She looked down at her precious toy, so new, so shiny and amazing. It quickly occurred to her that the baby doll only wore a thin little dress, so she quickly took off her red sweater with a teddy bear sew upon the pocket, and she wrapped her baby doll up nice and snug. She would be warm and cozy she thought.

She pulled it close to her, smiling, feeling like she had something so very special, she drifted off to sleep.

The next morning when they found the little girl, covered in snow, clutching her baby doll, her tiny body frozen to death by the elements, they saw the honest, genuine smile upon her dear, little face.

She had not thought of herself, she wanted to give warmth to her baby doll, she gave her only shelter from the elements away, and she gave her life to ensure the warmth of another, even it was just an object, it was far more to her. It was love to her, she passed away smiling, holding something close and protecting it, feeling the love of her beloved baby doll returned as she slipped away into the realm of death.

This story has always meant so many things to me. As I discussed it with Luke this week, I felt very sad but also quite fortunate. Sad because this time of year can bring out such materialism in people, but fortunately my Mom had a grasp on something greater and began teaching it to me at a very young age.

Christmas, it can be viewed so many ways, it can be about who gets what, who gives the biggest whatever, a mad sulky feeling because you didn't get something lavish or extravagant. I feel for those who only know this side of Christmas.

Christmas is about love, it is about hope, it holds no dollar amount, it is a time of year that we should clutch as tightly to our chest as the little girl clutched her baby a feeling of love and peace and pass it on, not for just a season, but all year long.

I may not have the perfect tree, in fact mine is leaning heavy to the left, my star is wobbly, but it still shines, I may not have been able to purchase everyone I love something grand, or strut into the mall with a plastic card and load myself down with trivial sale items. I am glad I didn't, I won’t, ever.

Christmas is about giving, not gifts, but of yourself, from your heart. The best gift you can ever give another soul is yourself, love, kindness, friendship and care. Without those, well, you are the one who is far less fortunate than those who understand what giving is really about.

I wish I could reach through and give you all something, not a generous gift, but quite simply, a hug. That to me speaks volumes and that gift can be given in any weather, any season, and it can heal the broken, reassure the sick, and most of make another soul feel that someone else cares.

I hope you all have a beautiful Christmas. Think of what I have said, and think of the little girl in the red teddy bear sweater who understood the act of giving far better than we do.

With Love,

Teresa

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