The ribbon up above the candle was also singed. However, to my surprise, I did see that I had forgotten to extinguish the candle, and the flame was now 12 inches high! It had melted a hole through the glass container and had started to burn the wooden box. When I opened it, no one was there, so I peeked around a little further to see who it was, but no one was even in the room. Rather than answering from the bed, I went to the door. The candle had been placed in a very cute wooden box with a heart shape cut out of the middle so that we could enjoy the brightness of the flame.Īt about 4 in the morning, I was awakened by a male voice at the door that simply said, “Mom!” The voice sounded familiar, but I couldn’t make out which one of my boys was speaking because all 3 of them were now at their own individual homes for the holidays. I watched it burn throughout the day and enjoyed the fresh aroma that filled the room. I had been saving this small candle all year long for this season. I then went on my way and continued to make preparations for the coming days ahead. If people ask me if I believe in Santa Claus, I would say “Of course! He used to live at my house!” A Familiar Voiceby Rayleen Jesus Christ loved everyone he met and spread His love to those who weren’t physically with Him, and I could see a piece of His love in my beloved grandpa during the Christmas season and over the entire year. He will always be our Santa and will always be an example of love. My grandpa passed last February, leaving us wonderful memories like this one. She thanked him for making her believe in Santa Claus and believe in a better world. The sadness she felt on those nights was replaced by joy every time she heard the sirens. Most of the time, that candy was the only thing she was going to eat that night because she didn’t have anything else, not even a Christmas present. One day, my grandpa received a letter from a woman saying that my grandpa made her happy on so many Christmases! She thanked him for all the joy he brought to her family during that difficult time they were living in. After that, we used to invite neighbors and the fireman to celebrate Christmas with us.Īfter almost 25 years of doing that, my grandpa resigned because of his age, but the memories are still so fresh on my mind. It was all so magical to me-the truck and all its sound and lights, the cars honking behind it, my grandpa throwing all that candy. The truck would then drive around to a couple of low-income neighborhoods where “Santa” would throw candy to the kids. On December 24, my grandpa would climb to the top of the fire truck. Then, the train breaks up and everyone is stunned by the Christmas lights and beautiful gifts, and each and every train car is exhilarated and ready to enjoy Christmas morning together. After going through every single room in the house at least a million times, the engine revs up loudly and makes a dash toward the newspaper-covered entrance to the gift-flooded room, bursting through the newspaper with the rest of the train in tow. While chugging through the house, the engine is especially fond of bathrooms, because Dad has a bizarre sense of humor and likes to squish the 10 to 15 train members into tiny bathrooms! The train cars protest (but laugh!) while going through the tiny spaces. The train progressively grows louder as everyone adds their own version of the “chugga-chugga-woo-woo” song. Next, the train chugs and choo-choo’s and woo-woo’s around the house to get another lucky person, who hooks onto the train by putting both hands on the shoulders of the person in front. The first person on the train (aside from Mom and Dad) is the youngest person in the household, who gets to be the honorary cowcatcher at the front of the train.
Before then, the engine is busy turning on the tree lights, getting a drink, getting into uniform (typically red winter clothing, engineer overalls, and a hat) and doing as many unnecessary things as possible before finally starting the train in earnest. The engine's first few woo-woo's are called out mainly to taunt everyone, because it’s much later- at least 10 minutes-before the “engine” (my father) arrives at the first bedroom door to begin picking up “cars” (members of the family).
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