Volume 21: "Christmases Past"

One thing I miss most about "Christmases Past" is drawing names in our Middle School boys' Sunday School class and then trading the gifts with one another on the Sunday before Christmas.

I remember one year in particular. My friend, Mike, had not been present the Sunday we had drawn names with one another for the gift-exchange, but he did want to join our family for church on Christmas Sunday. Mike was all concerned about coming without a purchased and wrapped gift. You see, Mike's dad raised him and his other three siblings, because their mother up and left the family of six when Mike was in first grade. But, we were dear friends, and so I helped him figure out how to come to church and to save face with the other boys in our class on Christmas Sunday.

Here's how my plan came down. I suddenly remembered that Mike had a model car in his bedroom that he had never opened. I told him to stick the model car in a paper sack and to immediately put the paper sack in the classroom closet upon arrival. When it came time to exchange gifts, I quickly gave my gift to the boy whose name I had drawn, received my gift form the boy who had drawn my name, and then quietly gave that gift to Mike. I then made a beeline for the closet to get Mike's paper sack. I pulled Mike's model car out of the sack so fast, the other boys didn't have time to realize it had never been gift-wrapped. 

Mike smiled at me with a look of gratitude that is simply and profoundly unforgettable. My friend's dignity had been preserved and my heart was wondrously warmed in the process.

During "Christmas Present", I remember the Christmas presents the boys in our  Sunday School Class exchanged on that very special Sunday of my "Christmases Past", and my heart is still wonderfully warmed because of the memory.

Grateful