Almost No Christmas

Almost No Christmas

Mary Beth Hughes

I was eleven when my parents were near the end of a nasty divorce and it was just a couple of weeks before Christmas. Mom was struggling just to keep food on the table and heat in the house. Indiana can have some pretty cold winters and it was cold this year. At the time, I had two brothers and one sister. By finding, saving, and selling pop bottles and egg cartons, Mom and I had enough money to get some Christmas candy for the kids' socks. Mom had squirrelled away a little to get each of us a small gift from her.

It was at this time that our father decided to turn off all the utilities that were in his name. He could have just switched names for a very small fee but it would not have had the same effect. I was shocked when I had to deal with the utility men. Each of them had very kind hearts and didn't turn off the electricity or water. This was to give Mom a chance to raise the funds and get the utilities into her name.

Poor Mom she had to spend all of her Christmas money to turn on the utilities and beg from her parents to help cover the rest. I knew there was to be no Christmas that year. We did not have a tree, no money even for Christmas candy, no presents and no special foods. Christmas was not coming to our home that year.

I don't remember being sad but Mom was and she cried on more than one night. We weren't taught to pray and we weren't allowed to, but I still believed in God. So I told him that I knew that Santa wasn't real but he was and would he please give my Momma a Christmas.

The Lord blessed us that year. Mom had met a man through her work as a waitress. He decided to help us out and enlisted friends of his to provide all of us with a Christmas. They worked very hard that night. We went to bed with no tree, no presents, no stockings for Santa, and no plans of Christmas dinner. Imagine my surprise when my brothers rudely woke me at about four in the morning to see our Christmas miracle. We had the most beautiful tree that year. None has compared to it since. There were presents, filled stockings, and food cooking. I don't remember any of the wrapped gifts that I received that year. They just weren't important to me. Most important, Mom was smiling and happy.

The blessings from that Christmas are still being received. The man that the Lord inspired to help us out married my Mom and is still making her happy. Papa taught us more about being a family than anyone and added two sisters to our family. It doesn't end there, either, as I shared this with my husband, Clint, and he appreciated Papa's efforts so much that we have made it a family tradition to seek out and help a family who will not get other assistance. And, just like that Christmas long ago, it is only through prayer that we can find the family who needs this help. And finally, as a child I discovered that Heavenly Father is truly my Santa Claus.