Well, dear readers, it's been a while since my last post...and, I hope you haven't forgotten about my story I started sometime in December! I know, I know, it's late...but, I always try to finish what I start. Actually, I had the story finished before Christmas, but, just didn't feel good enough to get it posted with the appropriate illustrations.
And, you know what? A story like this one is an everyday event! It's not just reserved for Christmas-who was I to think that I needed to get it posted by Christmas? I know we're all compassionate and giving to those in need all during the year, not just during the Christmas holiday!
So, here we go, my friends...for the New Year, and all the year through!
* In chapter 2 we left Mary walking arm in arm with Aunt Sophie, towards their new life together. Mary had been orphaned when her parents were killed in an auto accident three years prior, and had taken to the streets on her own, homeless, to survive.
And, Christmas was just around the corner!
***
Oh, by the way...after spending a warm night snuggled in her new bed wearing a warm nightgown, and new furry slippers awaiting her, Mary awakened to find that is was Christmas Eve. She scurried out of bed, wiggled into a bathrobe and her new slippers, then headed for the family room. It was here last night, that she and Aunt Sophie had decorated a beautiful Christmas tree with multicolored lights just like the ones she and her parents adorned their Christmas trees with. And, they sang Christmas carols while looking at old family albums with wonderful Christmas photos from years past. Under the tree was a multitude of packages all wrapped up in bright holiday tissue paper with ribbons curled all about them. Funny...Mary hadn't noticed the gifts when she hugged Aunt Sophie good night. What could all of this be-there were no name tags on any of the packages. She turned around to see Aunt Sophie watching her with a huge smile, and Sophie said, "Tonight we will visit some old friends of yours, and I thought we could take some gifts to them. What do you think, Mary?" Well, could Mary have smiled any bigger? True, she hadn't considered the people she shared a fire with to be her friends, but, wait a minute...they shared, they didn't run her off, and they didn't treat her any differently than their own! Even, though SOMEONE made off with her cardboard abode, it wasn't one of her neighborhood group...HER group? See, I guess you could say they were sort of her friends!
"Yes" Mary cried. "Of course Aunt Sophie, why not?"
They loaded aunt Sophie's station wagon up with the packages around 6:00 that evening, and, under Mary's direction, made their way into the city, and beyond, where the conditions were not so favorable in that area. The folks that she was familiar with were busy gathering wood and paper for their Christmas Eve night's fire. They saw Mary and Sophie pull up, and park at a curb, then, emerge from the station wagon, and, they recognized Mary alright! Most of them even smiled at the ladies, and, one of the men called out to them. "Look everyone, it's Mary! Where have you been, Mary? We've been worried about you." Mary was a bit embarrassed to learn that she had been missed and thought about. She introduced the folks to Sophie, and told them how her aunt had found her, and, that she would be living with her from now on. The folks were so happy for Mary and gave her their best wishes and congratulations. Then, Sophie started unloading the packages from her car, and beckoned for Mary to help her.
Mary and Sophie wished the folks Merry Christmas as they handed each one a gift, and shook hands...there were so many smiles and laughter rang out as they all talked and opened their gifts to find pairs and pairs of warm socks! Mary was so elated..."Now we will all have warm feet throughout the winter!" Everyone laughed as the remembered how Mary's feet were always cold. "Please join us in song!" the group insisted. And they started with Mary's favorite 'Silent Night'. This time she sang with all of her heart, and Sophie joined in too. They all stood by the fire together, singing, and giving hugs with wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Then the time came for Mary and Sophie to make their way back to the city.
"We're so happy for you, Mary", one of the gentlemen expressed. "I believe that you are in the best of hands with your Aunt Sophie." Mary blushed and gave the man a hug, exclaiming, "I do believe you're right, and she couldn't have come at a better time...just in time for Christmas!" "Please come back and visit us from time to time, Mary", the folks begged. Mary and Sophie agreed that they would indeed come for visits, gave their final hugs and Christmas blessings, then, made their way out of the city and into the neighborhood that would be their home.
And, Mary chuckled to herself, when they arrived home, seeing all of the stockings that aunt Sophie had hung by the fireplace. She gave Sophie a giant hug, and wished her a Merry Christmas.
"Warm feet...warm heart!"
***
I hope you enjoyed my story. I do realize that there are not so many happy endings, however, we work to give some of those who are less fortunate that we are, some joy and happiness in whatever way we can.
I really want to thank you all for your best wishes for my recent illness...I'll try not to whine so much in the future. But, it HURT!!! It was so nice to know that you're thinking about me...I missed all of you! And, I am getting better now, but trying to get a bit more rest that I usually do.
Please come by anytime and say hello. OH, and, I'm working on a project with Susan McGillicuddy over at MyTexasGardens, that we hope to get finished in a few days, or, sometime next week.
I also want to extend my "I'm so sorry that you Floridians are STILL having to run air conditioning in January! OMG, we had thunder, lightning, sleet and snow all together in the Lone Star State last night! I mean that's almost unheard of in Texas! This time last year we were playing baseball out in the backyard with our grandson Scootie, and he is wearing shorts! I'm working on getting some of this out to you in Florida!"
Thanks are going out to:
Yahoo
Google
And all my blogging friends!
***
Be safe! See you next time!
National Popcorn Day * Saturday, January 19th
* In chapter 2 we left Mary walking arm in arm with Aunt Sophie, towards their new life together. Mary had been orphaned when her parents were killed in an auto accident three years prior, and had taken to the streets on her own, homeless, to survive.
And, Christmas was just around the corner!
***
Oh, by the way...after spending a warm night snuggled in her new bed wearing a warm nightgown, and new furry slippers awaiting her, Mary awakened to find that is was Christmas Eve. She scurried out of bed, wiggled into a bathrobe and her new slippers, then headed for the family room. It was here last night, that she and Aunt Sophie had decorated a beautiful Christmas tree with multicolored lights just like the ones she and her parents adorned their Christmas trees with. And, they sang Christmas carols while looking at old family albums with wonderful Christmas photos from years past. Under the tree was a multitude of packages all wrapped up in bright holiday tissue paper with ribbons curled all about them. Funny...Mary hadn't noticed the gifts when she hugged Aunt Sophie good night. What could all of this be-there were no name tags on any of the packages. She turned around to see Aunt Sophie watching her with a huge smile, and Sophie said, "Tonight we will visit some old friends of yours, and I thought we could take some gifts to them. What do you think, Mary?" Well, could Mary have smiled any bigger? True, she hadn't considered the people she shared a fire with to be her friends, but, wait a minute...they shared, they didn't run her off, and they didn't treat her any differently than their own! Even, though SOMEONE made off with her cardboard abode, it wasn't one of her neighborhood group...HER group? See, I guess you could say they were sort of her friends!
"Yes" Mary cried. "Of course Aunt Sophie, why not?"
They loaded aunt Sophie's station wagon up with the packages around 6:00 that evening, and, under Mary's direction, made their way into the city, and beyond, where the conditions were not so favorable in that area. The folks that she was familiar with were busy gathering wood and paper for their Christmas Eve night's fire. They saw Mary and Sophie pull up, and park at a curb, then, emerge from the station wagon, and, they recognized Mary alright! Most of them even smiled at the ladies, and, one of the men called out to them. "Look everyone, it's Mary! Where have you been, Mary? We've been worried about you." Mary was a bit embarrassed to learn that she had been missed and thought about. She introduced the folks to Sophie, and told them how her aunt had found her, and, that she would be living with her from now on. The folks were so happy for Mary and gave her their best wishes and congratulations. Then, Sophie started unloading the packages from her car, and beckoned for Mary to help her.
Mary and Sophie wished the folks Merry Christmas as they handed each one a gift, and shook hands...there were so many smiles and laughter rang out as they all talked and opened their gifts to find pairs and pairs of warm socks! Mary was so elated..."Now we will all have warm feet throughout the winter!" Everyone laughed as the remembered how Mary's feet were always cold. "Please join us in song!" the group insisted. And they started with Mary's favorite 'Silent Night'. This time she sang with all of her heart, and Sophie joined in too. They all stood by the fire together, singing, and giving hugs with wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Then the time came for Mary and Sophie to make their way back to the city.
"We're so happy for you, Mary", one of the gentlemen expressed. "I believe that you are in the best of hands with your Aunt Sophie." Mary blushed and gave the man a hug, exclaiming, "I do believe you're right, and she couldn't have come at a better time...just in time for Christmas!" "Please come back and visit us from time to time, Mary", the folks begged. Mary and Sophie agreed that they would indeed come for visits, gave their final hugs and Christmas blessings, then, made their way out of the city and into the neighborhood that would be their home.
And, Mary chuckled to herself, when they arrived home, seeing all of the stockings that aunt Sophie had hung by the fireplace. She gave Sophie a giant hug, and wished her a Merry Christmas.
"Warm feet...warm heart!"
***
I hope you enjoyed my story. I do realize that there are not so many happy endings, however, we work to give some of those who are less fortunate that we are, some joy and happiness in whatever way we can.
I really want to thank you all for your best wishes for my recent illness...I'll try not to whine so much in the future. But, it HURT!!! It was so nice to know that you're thinking about me...I missed all of you! And, I am getting better now, but trying to get a bit more rest that I usually do.
Please come by anytime and say hello. OH, and, I'm working on a project with Susan McGillicuddy over at MyTexasGardens, that we hope to get finished in a few days, or, sometime next week.
I also want to extend my "I'm so sorry that you Floridians are STILL having to run air conditioning in January! OMG, we had thunder, lightning, sleet and snow all together in the Lone Star State last night! I mean that's almost unheard of in Texas! This time last year we were playing baseball out in the backyard with our grandson Scootie, and he is wearing shorts! I'm working on getting some of this out to you in Florida!"
Thanks are going out to:
Yahoo
And all my blogging friends!
***
Be safe! See you next time!
National Popcorn Day * Saturday, January 19th
Hello, Suzanne! First of all I am very thankful to learn that you are finally starting to feel better. You have been missed and I was genuinely concerned, dear friend.
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely right about the wacky "winter" weather that Floridians are experiencing. "We're havin' a heat wave, a tropical heat wave," as the old song goes. Day after day I am forced to run the air conditioning to keep cool. Daily highs are in the mid to upper 80s and we set a new record high on Saturday. I was starting to think that the earth had left its orbit and was catapulting directly toward the sun. Then I found out that most of the country is feeling winter's chill.
I really enjoyed the conclusion of your story and agree that it gives us something to think about all year long. Starting when I was Scootie's age and continuing throughout my youth I felt disappointed whenever I unwrapped a Christmas or birthday present and found pairs of socks. Yet, to the many homeless people in this country exposed to the elements, socks are good as gold. Let us all remember that, at this very minute, there are thousands of Marys huddled around outdoor fires and sleeping in boxes on our streets. We should all give thanks for what we have and give something back whenever we can.
Please get well and stay well, my dear friend Suzanne!
Hi Shady. Hope you're having a cool evening. I remember getting socks for Christmas too, and, I did chuckle to myself-"oh well", I would say, "I know they will come in handy some day." And they did.
DeleteWell, at least your tropical plants should be thriving, and I bet your cactus garden is happy about the weather, but, still, you need to get rid of the mosquitoes (I hear they're large in Florida).
I'm glad you enjoyed the conclusion of my story, and, of course, I could go on and on about the subject...you're right-thousands of Marys, I've seen some myself.
Thank you for your well wishes to me. Three trips to the Doc, and I think I'm on the mend. Feeling a lot more chipper, I must say. I'm so glad you came by Shady...you take care of yourself, and have a wonderful week. See you soon.♫
Thank you for the conclusion to that uplifting story Suzanne. It's a perfect description of what friends are too. Your illustrations were just lovely as well.
ReplyDeleteYou've a true talent for writing, keep at it when you feel the urge - we all benefit from your gift!
The weather is definitely going haywire - all over the world. Ours has not been typical and so much more heat than usual.
Cheerio for now, glad you are feeling a lot better :D) xx
Hi Susan, I know you mentioned in your last post that it is so hot in your town right now! And, did you say there had been fires too? Goodness...the weather is truly willy nilly these past couple of years! I hope you are managing to stay comfortable during the heat!
DeleteI'm so glad you enjoyed my story! And, thank you for your compliment on my writing-that really means a lot to me. I am feeling better, but of course it's so bitterly cold here (never thought I'd whine about that!, lol!) I hope to see you again soon...have a wonderful week Susan!♥
hey susan!! wonderful, heartfelt story...'giving' from the heart...that's what its all about...all the time, not just at christmas.
ReplyDeleteglad you're feeling better...take care of yourself!!!
as far as the weather, it's up and down here in north florida. NOW we're back to the fire in the fireplace! the thermostat is definitely getting dizzy being switched back and forth from heat to cool. haha. (it's 49 outside right now)
anyway...i hope you share another of your stories soon!! =)
xo
Hi Laura, are you back in internet city yet? yes, I finally got the rest of my story posted, and, I'm glad you liked it. It seemed like a long haul with this sickness...I'm glad it's gotten better. But I still feel a bit puny. Taking walks has helped a lot. 49° eh? Just can't win with the crazy weather.
DeleteThanks for coming by. I hope you all are doing well. See you soon!♥
Hi Suzanne/Susan. I thought this was a really beautiful story my friend, and of course, i loved that happy ending! I hope you will write more stories for us to enjoy. I also hope that yiu arenow fully recovered from yiurillness.
ReplyDeleteThisisme! I see you got some snow your way...might pretty! I'm glad you came by and was able to read the rest of my story-yes, we always love a happy ending. I have recovered pretty much from the pneumonia, just trying to get more rest. Thank you so much for coming by, you stay warm now!♥
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