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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Christmas (04/25/05)
Christmas will never be overrated to me. I remember as a child I loved getting the new baby dolls. I liked watching the grown ups looking happy and acting silly from having just a little too much "holiday cheer". I loved and still do the smells of Christmas and the act of giving and receiving of gifts. It was many, many years later that I realized just how special the true meaning of the first "gift" really was.

One particular Christmas stands out from among all of the rest. I was twelve or thirteen years old and my brother Larry was a marine stationed in Vietnam. Larry was the youngest son and my mother's heart. She worried constantly about him. My mother spent many a night on her knees asking God to bring him home safe and sound. One time in the middle of the night she got out of bed and went to open the front door because she thought she heard him calling her.

We all wrote constantly and sent him boxes of home. Finally, that December his tour was over and he was coming home. He said he could not be sure if he would be home for Christmas, but in my heart I knew he would be. A winter storm came and it blanketed the whole east coast but I still believed. It was Christmas Eve night and I sat in a dark room looking out the window for hours. Everyone else was busy with decorating the tree and preparing the food for the next day. The snow was falling softly and along with the twinkling lights in the neighborhood, it was a picture postcard come to life.

I might have dozed, I am not sure but when my eyes focused again I saw a car moving slowing down the road of untouched snow and something in me said, "this is him!" As the car stopped in front of our house I think I stopped breathing for those few seconds. My brother is six feet, five inches tall so there was no mistaking that frame when he got out the car. I ran to get my mother and I cannot ever remember her moving so fast. As she flung open the door, she cried out and said, "Thank you God, this is the only gift I was believing you for!" That was truly my best Christmas ever.
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Member Comments
Member
Date
donna robinson
05/03/05
I think you captured the family's love from sister to mother of a soldier's life. Vietnam was a war where so many were lost and I can feel your mother's fear and love and fervent prayers.
Pekola Roberts
05/03/05
Your article is very relevant for the time. Well written and easy to read. Keep up the good work. P.K. Roberts
Phyllis Inniss 
05/06/05
Beautiful and touching. One could feel the love and concern of your mother and yourself for your brother. Thank God he did arrive safely.
Jacquelyn Horne
11/01/07
You've poured your heart into this piece. Good job.
Tim Pickl
02/21/08
Your story is a testimony of answered prayer--thank God!
It reads like a Christmas movie...I'm just curious--how did your brother react?