May your holidays be filled with peace and joy and the Spirit of Christmas be in your heart…
On a small farm in Northwestern Pennsylvania, Laura lived with her parents Thomas and Kimberly and her older siblings Steve and Emma. Christmas was a very special time for their family and the holiday season was always filled with joy and laughter. However, when Laura was just eight years old, something happened that would change the way she felt about Christmas for years to come.
On that Christmas Eve, Laura’s parents went to a party at a friend’s house. It was a snowy night and the threat of a blizzard was in the forecast. Before they left, they assured the kids that everything would be fine. But, as it got late and they hadn’t returned, Laura began to worry. Steve and Emma, who were fifteen and twelve, had gone to bed. Laura, however, stayed up waiting patiently for her parents. As the hours passed, she became even more worried and fought hard to stay awake. Finally, outlasted by the night, she fell asleep.
The next morning they were awakened by a knock at the front door. It was their Aunt Mary, two police officers and Mrs. Brooks, the Amish woman who lived in the valley. The children were devastated by the news they brought. Sadly, in the blizzard the evening before, their parents had been killed in a car accident. For Laura, Christmas time might never be the same again.
For the next several years, the children lived with their Aunt Mary. Within time, Steve and Emma seemed to adjust, but Laura seemed hopelessly lost. When Laura was twenty one, she met her husband Jim and they had their first child, a son they named Thomas, after Laura’s Father. Both Emma and Steve would also eventually marry.
Due to complications at Thomas’s birth, Laura was told she would most likely be unable to have more children. However, nearly four years after Thomas’s birth, Laura was feeling ill and went to her doctor on Christmas Eve morning. That day she found out that she was pregnant with their second child. Laura later gave birth to a healthy little girl they named Kayla. Jim did his best to convince Laura that Kayla’s birth was a true Christmas Miracle. Laura wanted to believe that for the sake of the children, but had trouble getting past her childhood memories.
Over the next few years, the family would establish a tradition of getting together each Christmas. Most years they would meet at Laura and Jim’s big farm house, located on a hill, overlooking the fields and valleys below. In the year that Kayla turned eight, the family would once again meet at Laura and Jim’s on Christmas Eve. The children, Kayla and Thomas went with Emma, her husband Gary and their daughter Kim, to go sled riding on the big hill near their home. Steve and his wife Cheryl were to pick up Emma, Gary and the kids on their way to Laura’s for Christmas Eve.
As evening and darkness set in, the weather turned worse and a Blizzard Warning was issued. There was caution that travel would be near impossible and everyone was advised to stay home. Laura knew only too well the danger and problems that come along with these unwelcome winter storms. She had an uneasy feeling as she watched out the big picture window overlooking the fields and valleys below. The wind formed a massive, snowy curtain that seemed to hide the world outside. But finally, there was a feeling of excitement as headlights appeared through the heavy snow and Steve and Cheryl’s truck pulled up to the farmhouse. Laura, however, was taken aback when she saw they were alone, and that hit her like a ton of bricks. They had stopped at Emma’s and Gary’s, only to find no one home. Steve said he assumed that they must have decided to come ahead on their own… But, that wasn’t the case.
No one had been answering the phone at Emma and Gary’s for several hours now. Laura knew they should be back from sledding, but still no answer. The snow continued to fall and the roads were drifting closed. Everyone seemed to be sharing the same uneasy feeling. In the back of Laura’s mind was the thought that Kayla and Tommy, now eight and twelve, were the same ages she and Emma had been on that snowy Christmas Eve twenty-five years before.
More and more time passed with barely a word spoken. Then, in the distant fields, through the heavy snow, they spotted a dim light; at least they thought they had… but it quickly disappeared. Soon, however, they saw it again and this time it seemed even brighter and closer. They watched with anticipation as the light would come and go through the blowing sheets of snow. At last, as the light made its final approach, they heard the sound of carolers. Incredibly, it was the Brooks family in their horse drawn sleigh, out for their traditional Christmas Eve sleigh ride.
Sadly for Laura, however, her hope once again began to fade and her heart seemed to fall to her feet. She would have to fight back her tears, the same way she had fought to stay awake that Christmas Eve so long ago. Then all of a sudden, just for a moment, the storm seemed to pause… and like a Christmas Miracle, through the cold, crisp winter air she could hear the sound of children’s voices! Amazingly, climbing out of that majestic horse drawn sleigh were Kayla, Tommy and Kim! Santa couldn’t have done it better himself! They had been snuggled down in the sleigh, along with Emma and Gary. It seemed Gary’s truck had become stuck in the field near the sled riding hill and they were rescued by the Brooks family. Finally, a collective sigh of relief, along with much joy and laughter, filled that big country farmhouse on that very cold and snowy Christmas Eve.
That night Laura found the wonder of Christmas she had lost so many years before. She learned that while life has both triumphs and tragedies, the common thread is our love for the ones we hold closest in our hearts. As we cherish the memories of those no longer with us, we must never miss out on the memories we can make with those we have and love everyday. The joy and happiness we share with others during the Holiday Season, is the true Miracle of Christmas!
Laura graciously shares her story in hope that the Spirit of Christmas will forever be strengthened in the hearts of all that hear it… It worked for me. Merry Christmas to all!
