The Christmas Stocking

"Are you excited?" Jane asked her friend Renée during recess.

"About what?" Renée asked her, pushing the merry-go-round and jumping on beside Jane.

"Didn't you sign up for the Christmas drawing?"

"That big stocking full of toys? No. It's just a bunch of junk the merchants couldn't sell so they donated it to the town for the Christmas party."

"It is not! They get it all ready before shopping even starts. I saw it. There are a lot of neat toys in there. The sign up boxes are in all the stores. I've hit about five of them."

"Oh, what would you do with all those toys anyway?" Renée asked her.

"I don't know. I only really want the Dress Up Doll. It has all the accessories."

"They have a Dress Up Doll? Okay, that would be nice." She suddenly looked sad. "I think it's almost time to go inside. Besides, I'm getting cold." Renée climbed off the merry-go-round.

Jane looked at her friend. Her coat was missing a few buttons and was very thin and too tight. Her blue jeans were short and well worn. Jane cocked her head to one side, but said nothing. She removed her own gloves and then took her friend's cold hand in her warm one and walked back to the building.

At lunch Renée opened her bag and looked inside. She pulled out the half-sandwich of peanut butter and jelly and opened her carton of milk. She ate the sandwich slowly and sipped her milk.

Jane checked her own lunch and found her favorite sandwich, carrot sticks, an apple, and a couple cookies. Embarrassed, she pulled her lunch out of the bag and opened her own milk. "I don't know what my mom was thinking," she said suddenly. "I can't eat all of this, especially since we only have a half-hour." She handed the apple and a cookie to Renée. "Help me eat it, will you?"

Renée smiled and gratefully accepted the offering. "Thanks," she said biting the apple.

After school Jane waved to her friend as Renée got onto the bus. "Mom," she asked from the back seat of her mother's car. "Why did Renée start riding the bus?"

"I don't know honey. Did you ask her?"

"No. She hasn't been over to play in a long time either. Can we go by and ask her mother if it's okay for her to come over after school tomorrow?"

"Oh, I can call her and ask that." Her mother dialed the house number while she waited her turn to pull out of the school driveway. "Well, it says the phone is no longer in service. Maybe they decided to use just their cell phones. A lot of people do that these days." She tried the cell number but got the same message. "Maybe they changed it," she said. "We'll drop by."

As they neared Renée's house they noticed a sign in the yard. 'Foreclosed'.

"Mom, what does that sign mean?" Jane asked.

"It means the house is for sale," her mother said. "I'll try again later. I don't see their car."

A few days later at the town Christmas celebration Jane and Renée sat on their fathers' shoulders waiting for the big announcement as to who had won the Christmas stocking. Their mothers stood back chatting quietly. When Jane's name was called she jumped so hard she nearly knocked her father over. She jumped up and down clapping her hands. Renée smiled and ran up to the podium with her to help her drag it back to her father.

Jane fell asleep in the car but woke up when she heard her parents talking in low voices.

"I spoke with Renée's mother," her mother said. "It's so sad. Her husband lost his job and could only find work at one those fast-food restaurants. She looked but didn't find any better and they have to work opposite shifts so someone is there when Renée gets home. They couldn't make the mortgage and lost the house and had to move into an apartment they can barely afford. They had to sell the second car because they couldn't make the payments anymore."

Jane cried quietly in the back seat as her father agreed.

Jane pulled the prized items from the giant stocking she had won. She sat with the doll and the accessories in her lap and stared at it. She sighed and got up and found a box they would all fit into and then wrapped it with Santa Claus wrapping paper.

Jane's mother sat on the sofa in front of the Christmas tree reading as Jane placed the large box on the coffee table. Her mother looked at her curiously when Jane slid the box across the table toward her.

"Mom, can we sneak this over to Renée's house? I don't think she'll get anything else this year."

Her mother wiped away a tear. "Is that the new Dress Up Doll?" She continued when Jane only nodded. "Now, why would you want to sneak that over? I'm sure she'd like knowing it was from you."

Jane shook her head. "I don't think she wants me to know she isn't at her house anymore."

"Oh, you heard Daddy and me talking last night, didn't you?"

Jane nodded. "And Mom? You know that new coat you and Daddy bought for me, the one that's still too big?"

"Yes," her mother replied.

"Well, my old one still fits me really well, and Renée's doesn't fit and it's worn out and she's cold all the time. May I give her my new one and my spare gloves? I know it would fit her. She's bigger than I am a little bit."

Her mother hugged her daughter. "Sure. Why don't we go wrap it? We can take it over there tonight. What are you going to do with the rest of the toys? I noticed you already have most of the games and some of the toys are for little boys."

"I've been thinking about that too," Jane said. "I heard there is a homeless shelter in town now. Is it all right if we take them over there? They'll know who to give them to."

"You are so smart for a seven-year-old. Of course we can do that. We'll drop them off when we go to Renée's. I have a surprise for you," her mother said.

"What is it!" Jane asked excited again.

"I asked Jane's mom if they would come over for Christmas dinner day after tomorrow. They don't have any family in the area and they can't go to them. She said yes."

"Yeah!" Jane shouted. "But act surprised when Renée tells about the doll and the coat," she said seriously.

"Oh, of course I will. Go find a box for that coat now will you? I'm just going to call Daddy and tell him what we're up to. I think he's going to be a little late tonight. Maybe we can stop and get chicken on the way home."

Jane ran to her room to get her new coat and gloves and a big box.

Christmas morning Jane ran to see if Santa had eaten all his cookies and drank his milk. She smiled at the empty dishes and then ran to the tree. A large box wrapped in shiny silver paper with a big red ribbon caught her eye. There was a card taped to the box with her name on it.

Smiling she read the card. "To the sweetest little girl I know. Love, Santa." Her eyes grew wide as she ripped the paper off the box and found inside a Dress Up Doll and all the accessories. "How did he know?" she squealed hugging the doll. 

                                               

Celia

The cellphone vibrated on Celia's desk. She stopped clacking away at her computer keyboard and picked it up. She tapped the text message icon to read the message. 'Got her itinerary. I'll take her down after work.'

Celia looked confused at the message. "What?" She turned the phone over and realized she had her husband's phone which was identical to hers except that he had engraved his initials into the back plate of his. She checked his past text messages and saw where he had sent messages to this number before, all equally as cryptic. She checked his email and saw where he had mailed out her itinerary. With shaking hands she texted back for a verification of the location where she would be 'taken down' and then deleted it from the sent folder and marked the original as unread.

Celia cried when the reply came within minutes. It was indeed the parking garage at her office. She replied 'k' as her husband Conner liked to do and then erased it from the received and sent file as well. She almost jumped when minutes later Conner tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hello, my dear. I think we got our phones mixed up this morning. I thought I'd come see if you had mine," he told her. He dropped a single red rose on her desk and a single Dove chocolate.

"Oh, how beautiful, and my favorite chocolate." She clasped her hands together. "Thank you, honey. I have the phone in my purse. I haven't had it out all day, so I didn't even realize it was the wrong one," she lied. She opened a desk drawer and pulled it out of her purse. "There you go." She handed it over to him.

"Thanks." He kissed her on the forehead. "See you later for dinner."

"Sure," she said hesitantly.

"Are you alright?" he asked her.

"Oh, I've just been really busy. I guess I'm a little distracted." She smiled and squeezed his hand. "I'll see you later." She watched as he got back on the elevator and the lights showed he was going down. It stopped on the fourth floor instead of going all the way down. Probably just someone getting on, she thought, but then it came back up and when the doors opened someone got off and he wasn't there.

On break Celia went down to the fourth floor to see what was there. She found their accounting department, staffed entirely by women. She shook her head and went back up to her office. A tear slid down her face.

After work, Celia asked a security guard to walk her to her car. Her eyes shifted back and forth, alert to anyone she didn't know walking up to her. She sighed with relief when she got to her car and the guard stood by as she opened the door. She turned to thank him and saw that he held a gun on her.

"Get in," he told her. "We're going to take a little drive."

Her heart sank. Of all people to walk her to her car it had to be the one she didn't want. She climbed in behind the wheel and he walked around to the other side with her keys in his hand so she couldn't lock him out. "Where are we going?"

"Do you remember where you met your husband?"

"It was at a disco on the lake, but it's closed now; has been for years."

"That is sort of the point. No one will find you there." He waived the gun at her. "Now!"

She cried softly as she started the car and made her way out of the parking structure.

They arrived at the old building and he told her to turn off the engine and get out.

Her foot still on the brake, engine running, she asked him why he was doing this. He told her Conner didn't want to go to the trouble of getting a divorce and having to split the assets. She sighed resignedly and then hit the gas as hard as she could. He already had taken off his seat belt, but hers was still intact.

"What the hell?" he yelled just as the car slammed into a concrete pylon. In her old car the airbag had to be manually turned on and the passenger side was off. He hit the windshield.

Celia took a second to shake off the impact with the airbag. She glanced over at her assailant whom she assumed was dead and then she ran from the car. Hearing a noise, she looked back just as he pulled his head back momentarily and then raised his arm and shot. The last thing she saw was him slump forward again before she felt the sting of the bullet in her back. Her world went black minutes later.

Conner was in the apartment sipping champagne with his girlfriend. Candles glowed on the table and soft clarinet music played over the stereo. Celia took in the scene with rage. The curtains rustled in spite of the windows being closed and Conner looked up. The candle flames went out one by one as she blew on them.

"What is going on?" the woman asked him.

"I don't know," Conner said. "There's bound to be a window opened somewhere."

She looked down at her watch. "I need to get going anyhow. I don't need your wife walking in on us. She almost caught us the last time."

"Trust me; that won't happen again," he assured her.

"I wouldn't be sure about that," Celia said.

"Celia?" Conner said looking around the room.

Realizing her could hear her, just not see her, Celia laughed an ironic laugh that she knew would send chills through them both. The woman got up and ran from the apartment.

"Celia?" Conner said again. "I can explain."

"Explain what, Conner?" she asked him. "That you had me killed so you wouldn't have to go through a divorce and split the assets. Or the bimbo from accounting? What exactly do you want to explain?"

Conner's eyes widened. "You know about that?"

"Yes, and the cops have your killer's phone. He's dead too, by the way. So, my unfaithful lover, it won't be long until they link you to him. I told my boss about the odd texts on your phone and he told me to get a security guard to escort me to my car. He had no way of knowing it would be the man you hired to kill me, of course, but he can put the nail in your coffin, so to speak."

Conner blanched at her message and a lump rose in his throat. He took a drink of champagne and swallowed hard as the door bell rang. He heard them call out 'Police' before he opened it.

Approaching Fifty-But We're Still Young- Right?

I remember not long ago seeing a picture of myself and my classmates from when we were in sixth grade shop class. Our teacher had taken the photograph. Then we could not have imagined beyond the next school year when we would start junior high, much less careers or having our own families. Children were far from our young minds as we concentrated on what we would be playing (or trying to get out of playing) in physical education class, or what we were going to play after school, what we could do with our friends, or how much homework we would have. Grandchildren never even came up. Now, we can't imagine not being parents and being grandparents is the greatest joy in our lives. Man, it's hard to believe we are no longer twelve, but approaching fifty, or already there. We are old enough to be members of senior citizens organizations such as AARP. I remember being excited to be in 4-H. Where did the time go?

We have lived through a lot

My friends and I lived through man's first walk on the moon, the Vietnam War era, the Watergate scandal, the taking of political prisoners from the U.S. Embassy in Iran and even wrote letters pleading for their release to their leaders. We have lived though being able to pray in school to being told we weren't allowed to any more. I remember when Elvis Presley died and some of my friends thought it was the greatest tragedy ever.

We survived the disco era, parachute pants, loud hair and even louder makeup. We were already beginning to become parents by the time the first space shuttle exploded on takeoff and then when another exploded coming home.

We've lived through numerous national financial crises, dishonest companies taking advantage of everyone they possibly could; Enron being a prime example. We have so far survived extreme disagreements within our own government and those who support them.

We were young, but remember the assassination of Robert Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We remember when John Lennon was murdered, President Regan was shot by a would-be assassin, the tragedy at Jonestown with the cult of Jim Jones, Ruby Ridge, Columbine High School (and many schools since), the bombing of the Morrow Building in Oklahoma City,  and Waco. We were around for the fall of the Berlin Wall subsequently reunifying Germany, and the official breakup of the Soviet Union, and the renaming of so many countries I have lost count. We have seen tragic human rights abuses by people's own governments and rival factions vying for control over their countries.

We lived through September 11, 2001, our generation's December 7, 1941.

We were there when the home computer explosion started and helped it happen and created the Internet Generation. We have social media which both hurts (think cyber bullying and cyber crimes), and connects (old friends on Facebook, fans on Twitter, pictures on Instagram).

Now

After graduation those children in that old photograph have gone their separate ways; some not so far from home, some still there, and some of us, like me, across the country. Thanks to those same social media sites, that so many are using to cause pain to others, a good many of us are getting back together, even if only for a few minutes a day or a week. We show how we've grown from the kids who teased (good naturedly) each other, to adults who still know how to have a good time, or at least appreciate those good times a little more, because while were young and invincible and never going to die, we know now that we all will eventually and intend to do the most living the best way we can now. We treasure our parents more, our greatest gifts- children and grandchildren, and our spouses and friends. We worry now, as adults, what will happen to us in our 'old' age, because we sure didn't then, but we don't spend every waking moment doing so, because we have so much to be thankful for and enjoy.

I saw a story on CBS Sunday Morning where a group of friends from high school had a running game until they graduated of Tag. The story was hilarious. They began again during their college years whenever they got together again even though they had gone to different schools, careers, and lives. They decided that during one month a year (February) they would resume the game and travel all over the country just to say, "Tag," to an old friend (even as far as going in disguise to surprise the other person). The last one tagged before midnight on the last day of the month is 'it' for the year. I must admit I'm a little jealous. What a great idea! I wish we'd thought of that.

Like those people I saw on television, we're aging but we're still young! Right?

 

Government Shutdown Needs Solutions

The government has shut down, which hasn't happened since the Clinton Administration. They are, of course, in complete disagreement about pretty much everything so they are choosing not to work at all. Amazing how alike the two presidencies are- both determined to turn our democratic (not to be confused with Democrat) society into a socialist government where the government runs the people and everything they do. We are not socialist or communist. The government works FOR US. We hired them by virtue of the vote- all of them. It's bad enough that the average working American is seeing less and less of their pay because the government takes it in taxes every paycheck, but the very people who campaigned on not raising their own pay did just that, and raised it and you can bet they are being paid for this debacle of non-cooperation . You know, I don't recall that when I work for someone I get to tell them I AM getting paid more whether you like it or not. So now, our employees (senators and congressmen) are telling those who work for the government to go home and others to work without pay. Now if I were to tell my boss what I will and won't do and that they are going pay me more even if I am not doing the job they assigned me, they would tell me to hit the bricks or get to work. If our senators and congressman cannot get their collective butts back to work and resolve the issues we hired them to, then they too should go without pay (only seems fair since they are doing it to other workers) or they should get the hell out so we can get someone who is willing to do the job. Don't you think so?