A Christmas Story

It was 10 days before Christmas last year, and I woke up sick. You know. The ugly sick. All the nasty stuff that no one really wants to hear about.

By the next day, the nastiness had abated, but I still had no appetite or physical strength.

The third day was much better. I actually showered and washed my hair, but that was it. No styling of the hair and no application of makeup.

That night, Doug and I were sitting in the house in all our scruffiness when the doorbell rang. I made Doug answer it while I hid around the corner because I looked so bad. I mean, I looked BAD! When Doug opened the door, I heard a chorus of voices singing a Christmas carol; and I couldn't imagine who would be caroling us. Then, to my horror, I heard Doug inviting them in!

I should also mention that Doug and I don't really get into decorating for Christmas. We have a lovely nativity set that we put on the fireplace mantel, and we might put up a wreath or two and set out a ceramic Christmas tree that lights from the inside. But, that night, nothing was out but the nativity set.

Before I go further with this, I need to give you some background. We had previously attended a church that was about 30 miles away. We had left that church eight months earlier and begun attending one about five miles away. There were so many nice folks at the distant church, but two very special ones were twins, Gina and Tina. They were in their thirties, both with wonderful husbands and large families. Gina was mother to three girls and two boys; and Tina was mother to one girl and six boys. Doug always referred to Gina and Tina as the "sunshine committee" at church because of their cheerfulness and friendliness.

Well, at our door that night were Tina, her husband, Mark, and six of their seven children. (The seventh had been sleeping in the car and had just woken up and didn't want to come in.) They live almost an hour away but had come to our area that night to attend a Christmas function connected with Mark's employment, and Tina had convinced Mark that they would be so close to our home that they just HAD to stop and see us.  Mark is no fool. I'm sure he knew they would be going way out of their way to pay us a visit, but he loves his wife.

At Doug's invitation, they came inside the house but remained in front of the door so that the child in the car could still see them. I came out of my hiding place, still very embarrassed by how bad I looked. The children were looking at Doug and me as if they couldn't believe we were the same people they had known from church. I could see them looking around the house, too, and knew that they were wondering where our Christmas decorations were. They'd probably never seen any place looking so dreary this close to Christmas.

We visited with them for a few minutes and got our hugs from Tina before they were on their way again, leaving our lives a little brighter.

Later, I sent them a card with this message:

Dear Mark, Tina, Thane, Maeghon, Lucas, Andrew, Jeremy, Zachary, and Stephen,

We just wanted to drop you a line and let you know how sorry we were that we missed your visit on Thursday night. We had been out purchasing all new Christmas decorations; and, when we arrived home, the couple who had been watching the house for us told us of your visit. They said you seemed to think they were us, so they just went along with it. They said you had a charming family and sang beautifully; so, of course, we knew immediately who they were talking about.

It was so sweet of you to stop by. We hope you'll come again, when we can be here to greet you. (We look SO much better than that other couple!)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!