This old woman who resided across the street from us was a mystery to the adults in town and someone to fear to the children in the neighborhood. Her house looked nice from the outside, always mowed and neat. Her curtains were tattered and her porch bare except for an old rocking chair. She walked all over town with her head lowered and wearing an old heavy long coat... even on the hottest day of summer. We would make it a point to say Hi to her. She would nod in acknowlegment and walk on quickly.
Like every year, the boys and I would put up our Christmas tree on December 15th. The Christmas music would be blaring, hot cocoa to sip and a great time decorating. My oldest son had band practice that evening so that left Cory.. my youngest. I was washing dishes when he came running in and asking if he could have a couple boxes of decorations. Before I could turn around, he scooped up 2 boxes and hit the front door like lightening. I was disappointed that he was off to decorate someone else's tree, knowing that night was our night to do ours. I was pretty upset by the time I got the dishes done and half-heartedly began decorating our tree. I gathered up the empty boxes and went to take them to the garage. As I came around to the front of the house, I saw a sight to behold. My 11 year old son was decorating the old woman's dwarfed Spruce tree with our decorations. I watched him carefully select a piece and thoughtfully placed it on the tree. I got a glimpse of someone else watching him through her shredded curtains. Cory unrolled the electric cord that was connected to the lights and placed the other end on her front porch near her door. I hid behind the tree just in case the woman decided to come out and jump on Cory for being on her property, but he got done and came skipping back across the street. I ran in the back door and pretended to be putting on the finishing touches to our tree when he walked in the front door. I casually asked him what had he been up to. He shrugged and said " Awww nothing much". I wanted to tell him I saw the wonderful thing he did and how proud I was of him.. but I believed that this was something he wanted to keep to himself and I admired that. He could have tooted his own horn, but instead, he drank the rest of his hot chocolate and went to bed.
Later that night I decided to step out on the front porch for a moment before calling it a night. My heart swelled as I looked across the street and an abundance of warmth surged over me. This puny little tree was the most beautiful Christmas tree I had ever seen.. done with the magic of a 11 year old's imagination and his need to care about someone else. The biggest surprise to me, however, was on her front porch. This woman, wrapped up in a blanket, rocking in her chair.. enjoying the gift of a child. That memory is priceless to me.
Merry Christmas!