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December 23rd, 2004, 10:24 PM
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#1
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Squadron Leader
| Veteran | | Fleets Warrior |
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Baltimore
Posts: 1,238
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The White Envelope
The White Envelope
It's just a small, white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas
tree. No name, no identification, no inscription. It has peeked through the
branches of our tree for the past 10 years or so.
It all began because my husband Mike hated Christmas -- -oh, not the true
meaning of Christmas, but the commercial aspects of it-overspending...the
frantic running around at the last minute to get a tie for Uncle Harry and
the dusting powder for Grandma -- -the gifts given in desperation because
you couldn't think of anything else.
Knowing he felt this way, I decided one year to bypass the usual shirts,
sweaters, ties and so forth. I reached for something special just for Mike.
The inspiration came in an unusual way.
Our son Kevin, who was 12 that year, was wrestling at the junior level at
the school he attended; and shortly before Christmas, there was a non-league
match against a team sponsored by an inner-city church. These youngsters,
dressed in sneakers so ragged that shoestrings seemed to be the only thing
holding them together, presented a sharp contrast to our boys in their
spiffy blue and gold uniforms and sparkling new wrestling shoes.
As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the other team was wrestling
without headgear, a kind of light helmet designed to protect a wrestler's
ears. It was a luxury the ragtag team obviously could not afford. Well, we
ended up walloping them. We took every weight class. And as each of their
boys got up from the mat, he swaggered around in his tatters with false
bravado, a kind of street pride that couldn't acknowledge defeat.
Mike, seated beside me, shook his head sadly, "I wish just one of them could
have won," he said. "They have a lot of potential, but losing like this
could take the heart right out of them."
Mike loved kids-all kids-and he knew them, having coached little league
football, baseball and lacrosse. That's when the idea for his present came.
That afternoon, I went to a local sporting goods store and bought an
assortment of wrestling headgear and shoes and sent the anonymously to the
inner-city church.
On Christmas Eve, I placed the envelope on the tree, the note inside telling
Mike what I had done and that this was his gift from me. His smile was the
brightest thing about Christmas that year and in succeeding years.
For each Christmas, I followed the tradition -- -one year sending a group of
mentally handicapped youngsters to a hockey game, another year a check to a
pair of elderly brothers whose home had burned to the ground the week before
Christmas, and on and on.
The envelope became the highlight of our Christmas. It was always the last
thing opened on Christmas morning and our children, ignoring their new toys,
would stand with wide-eyed anticipation as their dad lifted the envelope
from the tree to reveal its contents.
As the children grew, the toys gave way to more practical presents, but the
envelope never lost its allure. The story doesn't end there. You see, we
lost Mike last year due to dreaded cancer. When Christmas rolled around, I
was still so wrapped in grief that I barely got the tree up. But Christmas
Eve found me placing an envelope on the tree, and in the morning, it was
joined by three more.
Each of our children, unbeknownst to the others, had placed an envelope on
the tree for their dad. The tradition has grown and someday will expand even
further with our grandchildren standing around the tree with wide-eyed
anticipation watching as their fathers take down the envelope. Mike's
spirit, like the Christmas spirit, will always be with us.
May we all remember the reason for the season, and the true Christmas spirit
this year and always. God bless -- -pass this along to your friends and
loved ones.
__________________
"Everyone's entitled to a little confusion in their lives.
I practicly thrive on it."
"Dirk's always wanted to make love with himself, and now he could succeed!!!"
RH
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December 24th, 2004, 04:50 AM
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#2
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Snowball, My Angel Baby
| Admin | | Colonial Fleets |
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Somewhere across the heavens... aka Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 9,188
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FG,
That story is beautiful and it had me in tears by the end. You have truly captured the light in the bottle with this tradition. It is the true meaning of the season.
My heartfelt thanks in sharing this story with us.
BST
__________________
Lay down
Your sweet and weary head
The night is falling
You have come to journey's end
Sleep now
And dream of the ones who came before
They are calling
From across the distant shore .
Children are a message that we send
to a time that we will never see.
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December 24th, 2004, 12:02 PM
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#3
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out there somewhere
| Former Admin (ret) | | Colonial Fleets | | BattlestarGalactica-Fleets.com | | Owner | | Ship Of Lights Forum |
Join Date: Aug 1999
Location: The Ship Of Lights
Posts: 5,517
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Thank you you for the story!
MEEEERRRRYYYY CHRRISTMAS! And best wishes hun!!!!
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December 24th, 2004, 03:43 PM
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#4
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Major
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Utah
Posts: 5,693
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thanks, that truly is what christmas is all about
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December 25th, 2004, 05:30 AM
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#5
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Strike Leader
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Texas
Posts: 2,242
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Your story is uplifting and sad. It brought tears to my eyes by the end of it. So many needy kids and people have benefitted by your gift to Mike and them, that you and now your family have returned the true meaning of Christmas at least to your home and the homes of those affected by those white envelopes, including those like me who have just read your story. God bless you and yours', FG. :
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December 25th, 2004, 09:42 AM
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#6
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Great Wise Guru
| Admin | | ColonialFleets.com | | Co-Owner | | TombsofKobol.com | | Owner/Webmaster | | DirkBenedictCentral.com | | Co-Founder | | Colonial Fan Force |
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Pacific Northwest, USA
Posts: 5,009
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December 25th, 2004, 02:19 PM
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#7
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Muff Daggy
| Owner: | | Colonial Fleets |
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Beaver Hollow, TN
Posts: 3,900
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Dearest Flamingo,
That is one of the sweetest, most moving things I have read in many a year
You have no idea how you have touched our lives by just sharing it...
Have the merriest of Christmas's!
And may you receive many times over the generosity you have given...
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December 28th, 2004, 11:51 AM
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#8
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Major
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Cheesehead in Connecticut
Posts: 6,692
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very nice story FG!
__________________
Cheese: [has tinfoil on his teeth] I have braces!
Mac: You found that on the ground, didn't you?
Cheese: Garbage can.
-episode "Mac Daddy"Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends"
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January 4th, 2005, 08:27 AM
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#9
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Strike Leader
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Middleofnowhere, NH
Posts: 2,012
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That brought tears to my eyes, FG, thank you for sharing that with us!
__________________
.
Each smallest act of kindness reverbrates across great distances and spans of time, affecting lives unknown to the one whose generous spirit was the source of this good echo, because kindness is passed on and grows each time it's passed, until a simple courtesy becomes an act of selfless courage years later and far away. Likewise, each small meanness, each expression of hatred, each act of evil.
This Momentous Day, H. R. White
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