Christmas Candy

I awoke to a cold, frosty Saturday just about two weeks before Christmas of that year. I was huddled under my blankets, the window was tightly shut and the room was dim in the early morning light. I lay there for a moment, wondering at the feeling of anticipation that seemed to be such a part of me. And then I remembered, Mindy and I were going into town to do some Christmas shopping. I had saved just a bit of money, looking forward to purchasing the gift that I had planned to buy for Mother. I was worried that she was missing us and I wanted to have something special for her on Christmas morning. It was so delicious to stay snug and warm under the waffle weave cover paired with another blanket, and my pillow had just the right indentation for my head, but I had plans for the day, and knew I had to get up. Just a few more moments though, while I thought of the weeks ahead and all the special moments that awaited me. I touched the frosty glass of the window and the heat of my finger made a clear spot that framed the wintery scene outside. I traced my name against the glass, watching as the glass cleared and my name appeared. Then, a whole hand print. By now, quite a bit of the frost had disappeared, and I could see the tree outside, leafless, sleeping as if it were in hibernation. The naked branches seemed to be empty arms, waiting to embrace something, but what? Then, I remembered the birds and realized that they too, must be waiting to return to their home. I wondered when in the spring they would return. I made a resolution to be sure to always have crumbs for them daily. I heard Mindy stirring, and she said with a sleepy voice, "What are you doing staring out the window? Looking for Santa?" Grinning at her I said"Yeah, because I know someone who is getting a surprise for Christmas!" Tossing my warm, head hugging pillow at her I told her to get up and let's get going! As we dressed, I began to think of the things I had made or was in the process of making for those I cared about. For some of the girls, I had made a set of earrings in several colors from sewing pins, and I had placed them in small packages with cotton to cushion them. For Mrs. Thompson I had made a new apron. I wanted to make something for the matron, but I didn't know what. We had forged new ground in our relationship, and I didn't want to jeopardize that. It would take some thinking, but I had a little time. I was still planning the gifts for my brothers and grandmother, but I knew for a surety what I was going to get for mother. Mentally hugging that thought to myself, I went to the dining room, ate a quick breakfast and grabbed Mindy to go out the door. Saturday's were pretty much our own if we had done our chores, and Mindy and I had, so we looked forward to the day together. Stepping outside, the cold wind greeted us by ruffling our hair and stinging our cheeks. As if in tandem, we both hunched down into our coats and stuffed our hands in our pockets. I told Mindy that maybe we should wear a scarf or something, and she told me to quit being a baby. It wasn't even that cold she said, reminding me that she was raised in a shack that had no heating or hot water. Everytime I thought about the true hardship that Mindy had known, I realized more and more that things had not been so bad for me. Feeling the freedom of Saturday, we quickened our step and headed into town. Even before we crossed the railroad tracks, we could see the glimmer and shine of a small town dressed out for Christmas. The street lamps were wound with tinseled garland, red, gold and green. At the top of each lamp was a symbol of Christmas, decorations of sleighs, reindeer, Santa and other items. Across the main street was a banner strung from one side of the street to the other proclaiming "Merry Christmas" with the lettering done in glitter. As the sun reflected off the banner, the glitter danced with holiday cheer. The feed store had it's doors flung open, allowing the smells of hay, cigar smoke and hot coffee to waft onto the street. The feed store windows had been decorated with a Christmas scene made of "snow", the kind that sprayed from a can. There was a large plate of Christmas cookies near the door for anyone who passed by. Mindy and I exchanged looks that agreed that we just had to try one. As we shyly stood by the entrance, the feed store owner smiled and boomed at us to "come on in!" To our happy surprise, he also had hot chocolate for anyone who did not want coffee. Telling Mindy and me to have a seat on a hay bale, he brought two steaming cups of hot chocolate with a fat marshmallow floating on top. Placing the cookies close by, he admonished us to help ourselves and went to help a customer. Blowing on my hot chocolate, I glanced at Mindy. She had a look of rapture on her face, puffing on her hot chocolate and taking tiny sips. "Can you believe it?" she said with cookie crumbs and sparkling sugar crystals resting on her lips, "free cookies and hot chocolate! I never thought to see that!" Once again, I was reminded of the fact that I almost took for granted the customs of Christmas, something that this dear girl had never known. I squeezed her hand and told her that I thought there was lots more to come. (I would make sure of that!) We finished our hot chocolate and stood up to go. The feed store owner asked if we wanted more, and although I did and was sure that Mindy did too, we smiled and thanked him saying that we had a big day ahead. He told us to come on back when we wanted to, and he would be looking for us. Turning right as we left the feedstore, once again I was embraced with the spirit of Christmas as only a small town in the South could create. The dress store had mannequins dressed in Christmas finery. In the background was a fake fireplace hung with stockings and garland. The grocery store windows were beautiful with snow scenes and grocery ads proclaiming sale prices on Christmas goodies. A Salvation Army bell ringer stood on the corner, bobbing and ringing as people passed. He looked almost robotic as he rang the bell up and down, and as I passed him, I gave him a bright smile as I dropped a dime in the slot in the top of the collection bucket. He thanked me and went right on ringing. Mindy and I came to the pharmacy at last, and were glad to be out of the cold. The ice cream counter did not seem so welcoming in the winter atmosphere, and indeed only had a few brave souls sitting along the dining bar. The pharmacy had lots of customers, especially along the gift aisle and along the aisle where perfume and other items for ladies were shelved. I told Mindy that I had to hurry to a special section of the store and she followed me. Walking to the back of the store, I came up on the aisle that had the lovely chocolates boxed in many different ways. There was only one package that I was interested in, and at first I did not see it. I felt a moment of panic until I spied the treasure that I had been watching for weeks. There in the back, was a small wooden cedar box with a picture of a cowgirl on a horse on the front of the package. She was blonde with a white cowboy hat, chaps with fringe and a pair of white boots. She had blue eyes and a lovely smile graced with red lipstick. She was beautiful. But that is not what drew me to this box. What I wanted was to buy this package for my mother for Christmas. I imagined her face alight with joy as she unwrapped this box filled with chocolates. Chocolates of all kinds to make her happy. And when she had eaten all of the chocolates, she would use the cedar box to put her lovely jewlery in. She would think of me each time she opened it. It would be the best gift she had ever gotten, I just knew it! I picked up the package and turned it over. Two dollars and seventy five cents! I had three dollars and fifty cents with me, so that would be no problem. I carried the box up to the counter, carefully setting it down. Smiling at the clerk, I told her that it was a gift for my mother. She smiled and told me the price. As I reached into my pocket, I looked around to find Mindy to show her my treasure. I saw her standing alone in the middle of an aisle with customers walking around her as if she wasn't even there. Looking at her stricken face, I realized that maybe she didn't have any money. I never even thought to ask her, and now, looking at her some of my Christmas joy faded. I wanted to give her some money, but I didn't have very much above the cost of mother's gift. My heart started to pound, what was I to do? Mindy was such a good friend, and I couldn't stand to see her sad. I wanted to give Mother the cedar box with candy, but I wanted to help Mindy too. I decided that I would wait until next week to buy the candy. I hoped it would still be there. I turned to the clerk and told her I would have to wait until next week to buy the candy, and reached to take it back to the display. The clerk told me that it would probably be gone by next week, and asked if I had enough money for it. I stammered that I did, but something had come up and I would just have to take my chances. She told me they had a Christmas lay-away and I could put some money down to keep it until next week. I asked her how much I would have to put down and she told me fifty cents would hold it. Fifty cents! I let out a breath of relief and gave her the money. She smiled and told me it would be waiting for me, and I could have until the day before Christmas to get it out. Two more weeks! No problem there! Now, what to do for Mindy. I knew she would not take money from me and I got an idea. I walked over to where she was looking at some make-up and asked her what she was going to buy. She quietly told me that she was just looking, anyway wasn't that the fun of Christmas shopping? I distracted her for a moment and dropped a dollar on the floor at her feet. Then, I told her to look at the nail polish on the bottom counter and as she did, she stiffened. Swooping down, she grabbed the dollar off the floor. She grabbed my arm, squeezing tight and said in a loud and excited whisper, "Jodie, look! Someone lost a dollar!" Her breathing quickened as she crumpled the crisp bill in her hand. Then, her face fell. "Oh, I guess I should turn it in, someone may be looking for it" she said with quiet sadness. Great. I didn't think about that! Mindy was worried about someone else losing their Christmas money. Thinking quickly I said, "no, wait- maybe Jesus just wanted you to find it. I am sure that the money is yours. Don't worry about turning it in, just enjoy it." Her eyes brightened. "Do you think so?" she breathed. "Sure" I said, "Someone as wonderful as you deserves a surprise like this!" With true excitement etched on her face, Mindy beamed as she walked over to the penny candy display. She placed the dollar on the counter and asked the clerk to give her a dollar's worth of the penny candy in an assortment. The clerk filled a small brown paper bag with candy of all sorts, gleaming reds and greens, orange slices, the yellows of butterscotch and black twists of licorice. She also put in some chubby rounds of bubble gum and a few other varieties. Mindy waited patiently until the bag was full and then gave the clerk a huge smile. "Thank you so much" she gushed, and carefully folded down the top of the bag. "Well, I am glad to see you get something for yourself" I told her and she looked at me in confusion. "For me?" she asked, and then understanding dawning, she said, "no, not for me! For my brothers and sisters! For Christmas! It truly is a miracle that I could get them some candy. They won't know how to act!" But, I knew how to act. I felt ashamed. I felt shame that I was so worried about a box of expensive candy when little children would be so satsified with penny candy. Yes, I certainly took for granted the joys of Christmas. It was one of the first times in my life that I truly understood the gift of giving instead of receiving. I vowed to do better in the future. Mindy touched my hand and asked if I wanted a piece of candy. I told her no, thank you, but if we hurried, I bet the feed store owner would still have some cookies and hot chocolate! So, arm in arm, we walked back out into the cold air. I didn't feel the cold, my heart was just too warm. Once again, Mindy had shown me a better side of life.