| My First Christmas With Grandma |
I remember my first Christmas adventure with Grandma.
I was just a kid. I remember tearing across town on my bike to visit
her on the day my big sister dropped the bomb: "There is no Santa
Claus," she jeered. " Even dummies know that!"
My Grandma was not the gushy kind, never had been. I fled to her
that day because I knew she would be straight with me.
I knew Grandma always told the truth, and I knew that the truth
always went down a whole lot easier when swallowed with one of
her world-famous cinnamon buns.
I knew they were world-famous, because Grandma said so. It had to
be true. Grandma was home, and the buns were still warm. Between
bites, I told her everything.
She was ready for me. "No Santa Claus!" she snorted. "Ridiculous!
Don't believe it.
That rumor has been going around for years, and it makes me mad,
plain mad. Now, put on your coat, and let's go."
"Go? Go where, Grandma?" I asked.
I hadn't even finished my second world-famous, cinnamon bun.
"Where" turned out to be Kerby's General Store, the one store in
town that had a little bit of just about everything.
As we walked through its doors, Grandma handed me ten dollars.
That was a bundle in those days. "Take this money," she said, "and
buy something for someone who needs it.
I'll wait for you in the car." Then she turned and walked out of
Kerby's.
I was only eight years old. I'd often gone shopping with my mother,
but never had I shopped for anything all by myself. The store
seemed big and crowded, full of people scrambling to finish their
Christmas shopping.
For a few moments I just stood there, confused, clutching that ten-
dollar bill, wondering what to buy, and who on earth to buy it for. I
thought of everybody I knew: my family, my friends, my
neighbors, the kids at school, the people who went to my church.
I was just about thought out, when I suddenly thought of Bobby
Decker.
He was a kid with bad breath and messy hair, and he sat right
behind me in Mrs. Pollock's grade-two class.
Bobby Decker didn't have a coat. I knew that because he never went
out for recess during the winter. His mother always wrote a note,
telling the teacher that he had a cough, but all we kids knew that,
Bobby Decker didn't have a cough, and he didn't have a coat.
I fingered the ten-dollar bill with growing excitement.
I would buy Bobby Decker a coat!
I settled on a red corduroy one that had a hood to it. It looked real
warm, and he would like that. "Is this a Christmas present for
someone?" the lady behind the counter asked kindly, as I laid my
ten dollars down.
"Yes," I replied shyly. "It's for Bobby."
The nice lady smiled at me.
I didn't get any change, but she put the coat in a bag and wished me
a Merry Christmas.
That evening, Grandma helped me wrap the coat in Christmas
paper and ribbons (a little tag fell out of the coat, and Grandma
tucked it in her Bible) and wrote, "To Bobby, From Santa Claus", on
it -- Grandma said that Santa always insisted on secrecy.
Then she drove me over to Bobby Decker's house, explaining as we
went that I was now and forever officially one of Santa's helpers.
Grandma parked down the street from Bobby's house, and she and I
crept noiselessly and hid in the bushes by his front walk.
Then Grandma gave me a nudge. "All right, Santa Claus," she
whispered, "get going."
I took a deep breath, dashed for his front door, threw the present
down on his step, pounded his door and flew back to the safety of
the bushes and Grandma.
Together we waited breathlessly in the darkness for the front door to
open.
Finally it did, and there stood Bobby.
Fifty years haven't dimmed the thrill of those moments spent
shivering, beside my Grandma, in Bobby Decker's bushes.
That night, I realized that those awful rumors about Santa Claus
were just what Grandma said they were: " Ridiculous". Santa was
alive and well, and we were on his team.
I still have the Bible, with the tag tucked inside: $19.95.
I was just a kid. I remember tearing across town on my bike to visit
her on the day my big sister dropped the bomb: "There is no Santa
Claus," she jeered. " Even dummies know that!"
My Grandma was not the gushy kind, never had been. I fled to her
that day because I knew she would be straight with me.
I knew Grandma always told the truth, and I knew that the truth
always went down a whole lot easier when swallowed with one of
her world-famous cinnamon buns.
I knew they were world-famous, because Grandma said so. It had to
be true. Grandma was home, and the buns were still warm. Between
bites, I told her everything.
She was ready for me. "No Santa Claus!" she snorted. "Ridiculous!
Don't believe it.
That rumor has been going around for years, and it makes me mad,
plain mad. Now, put on your coat, and let's go."
"Go? Go where, Grandma?" I asked.
I hadn't even finished my second world-famous, cinnamon bun.
"Where" turned out to be Kerby's General Store, the one store in
town that had a little bit of just about everything.
As we walked through its doors, Grandma handed me ten dollars.
That was a bundle in those days. "Take this money," she said, "and
buy something for someone who needs it.
I'll wait for you in the car." Then she turned and walked out of
Kerby's.
I was only eight years old. I'd often gone shopping with my mother,
but never had I shopped for anything all by myself. The store
seemed big and crowded, full of people scrambling to finish their
Christmas shopping.
For a few moments I just stood there, confused, clutching that ten-
dollar bill, wondering what to buy, and who on earth to buy it for. I
thought of everybody I knew: my family, my friends, my
neighbors, the kids at school, the people who went to my church.
I was just about thought out, when I suddenly thought of Bobby
Decker.
He was a kid with bad breath and messy hair, and he sat right
behind me in Mrs. Pollock's grade-two class.
Bobby Decker didn't have a coat. I knew that because he never went
out for recess during the winter. His mother always wrote a note,
telling the teacher that he had a cough, but all we kids knew that,
Bobby Decker didn't have a cough, and he didn't have a coat.
I fingered the ten-dollar bill with growing excitement.
I would buy Bobby Decker a coat!
I settled on a red corduroy one that had a hood to it. It looked real
warm, and he would like that. "Is this a Christmas present for
someone?" the lady behind the counter asked kindly, as I laid my
ten dollars down.
"Yes," I replied shyly. "It's for Bobby."
The nice lady smiled at me.
I didn't get any change, but she put the coat in a bag and wished me
a Merry Christmas.
That evening, Grandma helped me wrap the coat in Christmas
paper and ribbons (a little tag fell out of the coat, and Grandma
tucked it in her Bible) and wrote, "To Bobby, From Santa Claus", on
it -- Grandma said that Santa always insisted on secrecy.
Then she drove me over to Bobby Decker's house, explaining as we
went that I was now and forever officially one of Santa's helpers.
Grandma parked down the street from Bobby's house, and she and I
crept noiselessly and hid in the bushes by his front walk.
Then Grandma gave me a nudge. "All right, Santa Claus," she
whispered, "get going."
I took a deep breath, dashed for his front door, threw the present
down on his step, pounded his door and flew back to the safety of
the bushes and Grandma.
Together we waited breathlessly in the darkness for the front door to
open.
Finally it did, and there stood Bobby.
Fifty years haven't dimmed the thrill of those moments spent
shivering, beside my Grandma, in Bobby Decker's bushes.
That night, I realized that those awful rumors about Santa Claus
were just what Grandma said they were: " Ridiculous". Santa was
alive and well, and we were on his team.
I still have the Bible, with the tag tucked inside: $19.95.
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