by Dan Walsh
“Close my eyes,” she repeated.
He walked toward her. “Yep. You can do it now.”
She obeyed, then felt his hand take hers.
“Right this way,” he said. “I’m leading you into the living room, by your favorite chair next to the tree.”
She felt the bottom of the chair with her feet.
“Go ahead and sit down. That’s right.”
She heard him walk away. “Where are you going? Can I open them yet?”
“Not yet. In a few seconds. Oh, I love this song on the radio. I’m going to turn it up louder.”
She heard Johnny Mathis singing “Silver Bells” a little louder than she wanted. “Can I open them yet?”
“In just a minute. I’ll tell you.”
She waited and listened to the song. Whatever the surprise was, she hoped she wouldn’t have to fake enjoying it.
Before getting the kids and grandkids, Stan set his iPad up on a shelf on the hutch and turned it on. Earlier that day, Brandon had talked him through using an app that would take video with a timer. Stan had tried it already to make sure he knew how it worked. He turned the thing on and hurried to the kitchen door.
“Okay, everyone,” he whispered. “Take your places. Don’t make a sound.” He walked ahead of them, then stood against the far wall so he could catch everything as it happened and not be in the way.
“Can I open them yet?” Judith called out.
Stan glanced at the small crowd gathered in his dining room. His three kids holding up their ugly ornaments, smiles on their faces as they looked at their mom, who was oblivious to the moment about to unfold. He looked at his grandkids, their faces beaming with excitement and joy.
It was too much. He started to lose it. “Yes, open them.”
She did.
The same moment, everyone yelled, “Surprise!”
Stan would never forget the look on Judith’s face.
Her eyes opened wide in disbelief, trying to take it all in. “Oh my gosh, you’re all here. I can’t believe it!” She stood and burst into tears.
Everyone rushed toward her. Anna, Brandon, and Suzanne reached her first, then their spouses. The grandkids were hugging everyone around the legs. This went on for several minutes until Judith made sure she had hugged everyone individually.
Stan went into the bathroom, found a box of tissues, and started passing them around. Anna took charge at that moment and redirected her mother back into her chair, got everyone else to stand in a semicircle around her and the Christmas tree.
“I don’t understand. How is this possible? How can you all be here?”
All the adults looked at Stan.
“It was Dad, Mom,” Anna said, tears filling her eyes again. “He made it happen.”
Judith looked at Stan. “But how? We don’t have any money. Not this kind of money.”
Brandon spoke up. “Dad used his boat money, Mom. He bought all our plane tickets.”
“Stan?” Judith said, looking straight at him. The tears came again, even more than before.
It was hard to talk, but he managed to say, “Our old boat catches bass just fine.”
Judith got up and put her arms around him. They hugged, tight. “I can’t believe you did this,” she said. “I just can’t believe it.”
She finally let go. Suzanne handed them both the tissue box. Judith sat back in her chair.
Stan watched as his three children stepped forward, each holding their ugly ornament. Suzanne spoke first. “Dad put this all together last week. He mailed these to us and asked if we would be willing to bring these ornaments back home and hang them on the tree where they belonged. We all said yes.”
With that, Anna, Brandon, and Suzanne found a spot and proudly hung their favorite “ugly” ornament.
“They are beautiful,” Judith said. “The prettiest ones on the tree.”
Stan looked at his grandkids and got an idea. “I’ll be right back.” He hurried through the kitchen and out the side door, then over to the garage. He had never put the box with the rest of the ugly ornaments in the attic. He picked it up, then found an empty box nearby and headed back to the living room.
He set the box of ugly ornaments on the coffee table and the empty box next to the tree. Glancing at his grandkids, he said, “Do you know what’s wrong with this tree? Too many store-bought ornaments.” Reaching up, he removed one and replaced it with one of the ugly ornaments. “Now, that’s better.”
Suzanne joined in. Soon, everyone crowded around the small tree, laughing and replacing the shiny store-bought ornaments with the homemade ones.
Stan stood out of the way. Judith looked at him and silently mouthed the words “I love you.”
40
While everyone was occupied decorating the tree, Stan walked over and picked up a green envelope. Inside was the Christmas card Betty had dropped off a little while ago. He’d thought about opening it in the morning, but curiosity got the better of him.
He opened the card; a little white note fell out. He picked it up and read.
Stan,
I imagine you’ve had quite an exciting time over the last twenty-four hours. I didn’t want this thing about the boat hanging like a dark cloud over your time with Judith and the kids, so I asked Betty to get this card to you before Christmas morning.
Consider it my Christmas present. Well, really, it’s from the both of us.
I admit, I was plenty sore at you when I first found out what you did last week. But God and Betty started working on me, and I started seeing things differently a few days later. Judith was in a bad way. I know that. We’ve never seen her so low. I also know you did what you did because you love her and felt you had to. And I know you were probably pretty torn having to give up our dream rig and feeling like you were taking it away from me too.
Here’s the thing. As I write this note, I’m looking at it right now sitting in my driveway. It’s all set to go.
Turns out, that guy who owned her was pretty desperate to sell her. When I told him we had to back out, he started talking a new deal. Betty reminded me we finished up with a $3,000 bank CD last month. Barely earned a lick of interest on it. Wasn’t sure what to do with the money. She suggested I offer the man $8,000 for that boat, and he jumped at it.
So our dream rig is now my dream rig. Course, I’ll still let you fish with me, and I’ll still need you to go in half on the gas and bait. If you’re okay with that, we can take her out soon as you send those kids and grandkids back to wherever they came from.
Merry Christmas, my friend.
Barney
Judith looked up, saw Stan by the hutch reading some kind of note. Whatever it was, it seemed to be getting him upset. She saw tears in his eyes. New ones. She got up to see if everything was all right.
“I’m fine,” he said. He wiped his eyes and handed her the note. “It’s from Barney.”
She took it and read it. As she did, he put his arm around her and squeezed tight. When she was done, she couldn’t believe it. The hardest part about this amazing thing Stan had done for her was knowing how much he and Barney had wanted that boat.
And here God worked it out that they got to have their dream rig after all.
“Dad? Mom?” It was Brandon over by the Christmas tree. He must have noticed the two of them by the hutch reading this note. “Is everything okay?”
“We’re fine, son,” Stan said. “Actually, more than fine.”
Christmas Eve came to a close a few hours later. Brandon and his family had left for their motel room. They’d be back in the morning to open up presents. Anna’s and Suzanne’s families were occupying the guest rooms. The two oldest grandchildren were sleeping on an air mattress in the family room, but against the far wall so they couldn’t see into the living room. All the presents were wrapped anyway, so there was no chance of them finding out what they were getting by sneaking a peek.
Judith was almost finished getting ready for bed. Stan, already in his paj
amas, had gone out to give the house a once-over, turn off the lights, and make sure the doors were locked. Just before he left the room, he told Judith some more good news. Anna and Brandon had told him they were so affected by the sacrifice he’d made that they had decided to put it in their budgets next year to make it home for the holidays, one for Thanksgiving and the other for Christmas.
But there was even better news coming from Suzanne. She and Todd had decided to start looking for a transfer back to Florida. He thought it might happen about ten months from now, so they’d be here, one way or another, for both holidays next year.
It was almost more blessings than she could bear.
She had finished getting ready and was just about to get into bed when she realized Stan hadn’t returned. She went to check on him and found him standing in the center of the living room, staring at the Christmas tree.
Walking up, she wrapped her arms around his waist, then came around to his side.
Stan looked at her and said, “I loved hearing the kids telling their kids all the stories behind each of those handmade ornaments. You gave our kids some incredible Christmas memories. You know that?”
“I suppose,” Judith said. “But I think what you did here tonight gave this family a Christmas memory none of us will ever forget. I still can’t believe you did it.”
He patted her shoulder. “And I can’t recall a time I ever enjoyed myself more.”
“I can’t recall a time I’ve ever felt so loved.”
He put his arm around her shoulder. “What a sight,” he said. “Never saw so many presents under a tree.”
“Or,” she said, “a tree with so many fancy ornaments.”
Dan Walsh is the award-winning author of The Unfinished Gift, The Homecoming, The Deepest Waters, Remembering Christmas, The Discovery, The Reunion, and the Restoration series. A member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Dan served as a pastor for twenty-five years. He lives with his family in the Daytona Beach area, where he’s busy researching and writing his next novel.
Books by Dan Walsh
The Unfinished Gift
The Homecoming
The Deepest Waters
Remembering Christmas
The Discovery
The Reunion
What Follows After
THE RESTORATION SERIES with Gary Smalley
The Dance
The Promise
The Desire
The Legacy
www.DanWalshBooks.com
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