LOYAL. LOCAL. COMPLETE.
As we continue to work our way through the advent season and to the day Christians celebrate as the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I want to share two of the most beautiful Christmas memories I have ever had. These two moments give me more peace and show me the true meaning of the holiday season.
One of those memories happened at Grace Lutheran Church in the mid-1980s during the Christmas Eve service. We spent a busy Christmas Eve getting everything ready for the feast, wrapping last-minute Santa presents and hiding them so prying eyes couldn’t find them.
We headed off to church for the children’s Christmas show, which was based on the various traditions of the families in the church who had children. One mother sat at a table writing Christmas Cards with the children, one was baking cookies, another family was wrapping gifts and so on. One of our traditions was placing the Nativity set on top of the old Zenith console TV. Baby Jesus was added at midnight, by Santa, to complete the story. When our turn came, we put the small nativity our church gave us onto the TV, with great ceremony and as much dignity as we could.
Later that night, when we returned to church for the annual midnight service, the displays from the Christmas traditions sat prominently in the middle of the altar area. The service proceeded to the lighting of candles and the choir had finished their last song. Judy Carroll, the organist, filled in the time by playing an old Christmas Carol everyone knew from childhood. I could hear my children softly singing this carol and motioned for them to be quiet. Suddenly, I could hear children all over the church softly singing and Judy quietly faded the organ out so as not to interrupt the spontaneous chorus of children singing praise to God on the night of His birth.
The second memory takes place when I was about 15 or 16. I noticed my mom always got practical gifts at Christmas. We got toys or games along with our underwear and socks, but mom always got towels, dishes, glasses and other useful things for around the house. An idea began to formulate in my mind—I would find the perfect gift for her under the Christmas tree the following year. Walking to and from high school, I would stop at Bradham’s and Quinn’s Jewelry stores and do some window shopping. I would look carefully at the gifts for ladies, but was never satisfied with what I saw. There were lots of rings, although my mom only wore two rings.; one was her wedding ring and one was a ring given to her by her grandmother.
I kept looking and one day at Quinn’s I saw it; a beautiful Bulova watch in the case. I walked in and asked Mrs. Quinn how much the watch was and if she could let me pay on it weekly until Christmas. I explained what I was going to do with it and, of course, she let me make payments on it. Every Saturday morning, I would finish the collection of my paper route and go into Quinn’s Jewelry store on N. Central and give Billy or his wife my two dollars. When the watch was paid, she wrapped it for me with the most beautiful paper I had ever seen and put it in a little gift bag from the store. I took it home and hid it under my pillow.
On Christmas morning, we tore open the gifts and were oohing and aahing over our latest possessions. Mom had a nice set of dinner plates and four blue glasses. I went into the bedroom and came out with the little bag from Quinn’s. I told her it was from me to her. Her eyes got huge and tears started to form before she could even get the box out of the bag. The joy on her face was something I will never ever forget. Instead of tears of sadness, she was crying tears of joy. She grabbed me in a huge bearhug and thanked me over and over, telling me how beautiful it was and how much she loved it. She put the watch on and never took it off. She was buried with that watch on her wrist.
In today’s hectic, fast paced, topsy-turvy world, take a few minutes to enjoy the holiday and do something unexpected for someone close to you. It doesn’t have to be much—a coffee date or a note telling them how important they are to you. The smallest things can be the largest gifts a person can give a friend. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Seasons Greetings to your family from mine.
(Gary Butler is a native of Paris, a former Paris policeman, a retired chief of police in northern Illinois and a veteran of Iraqi Freedom. Email him at gkbutler@hotmail.com.)
