Happy New Year

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate

Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukkah whatever you celebrate 

May your troubles be few and may you enjoy great company

The Christmas Angel~The Christmas Star -Part 2

“I take it back, that’s not my real wish” Christina said as she stepped out of the house wiping the blood from her nose looking up at the Christmas star.

     Christina closed her eyes whispered the words and when she opened and there was Craig walking towards her. Craig hugged her like he’d never let her go and then surprisingly, he kissed her.

“I should have done that a long time ago,”Craig insisted.

      That was the moment that I knew Christina saw that her real wish had come true for Craig got down on one knee in the snow and asked, “Christina I miss you. I love you. You’re my best friend and I never want to let you go. Will you marry me?”

“But you live here,” Christina protested feebly.

“I got a job at Trent, Holloway and Montgomery in L.A. I start the day after New Year’s. It’s my uncle Gordon Trent’s firm so lots of room for advancement,” Craig laughed.

“I got a job too. I’m going to star in a sitcom called Chrissy’s world. I’m playing Chrissy.”

“Wow Congratulations Chrissy. But about my question. Will you merry, marry me?”

“Yes,” Christina answered.

“Good because were getting married tomorrow if that’s okay.”

“How can we get married that fast?” Christina asked.

“I hired a wedding planner. Her name is Mary and she’s a miracle worker. It’s all planned even your dress. Your mother picked it out, so no bad luck, I haven’t seen it.”

“I love you Craig Trent.”

“I always knew you did but I knew you also needed time to figure it out.”

“Thanks for giving me the time.”

“Let’s go tell your parents,” Craig said.

“I think they already know,” Christina stated pointing to them peering out the window.

       Christina and Craig were married the next day with me catering and carrying out the plans of their wedding. Now they celebrate their fiftieth wedding anniversary on this Christmas day. Aarush gave me permission to visit them for the day as Mary’s granddaughter just to see the two I brought together under the Christmas star. They are still happy and their grandchildren and great-grandchildren bask in that love. 

I''ll always remember this first couple I brought together under the Christmas star. but who knows maybe someday I'll be your Christmas angel when you wish upon the Christmas . Until then Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah,Happy holidays whatever you celebrate let your days be merry and bright.
©Sheilagh Lee December 14 ,2016

Three Word Wednesday-The Christmas Angel 2- The Christmas Star

Three Word Wednesday-The Christmas Angel 2- The Christmas Star

Unacceptable, adjective: intolerable, insufferable, unsatisfactory, inadmissible, inappropriate, unsuitable, undesirable, unreasonable, insupportable; offensive, obnoxious, disagreeable, disgraceful, deplorable, beyond the pale, bad; a bit much, too much, not on.

Vain, adjective: conceited, narcissistic, self-loving, in love with oneself, self-admiring, self-regarding, self-obsessed, egocentric, egotistic, egotistical; proud, arrogant, boastful, cocky, cocksure, immodest, swaggering; informal big-headed; literary vainglorious, futile, useless, pointless, to no purpose, hopeless, in vain; ineffective, ineffectual, inefficacious, impotent, unavailing, to no avail, fruitless, profitless, unrewarding, unproductive, unsuccessful, failed, abortive, for nothing; thwarted, frustrated, foiled.

Wakeful, adjective: awake, restless, restive, tossing and turning, alert, watchful, vigilant, on the lookout, on one's guard, attentive, heedful, wary.

I first wrote part of this last Thursday for ThursThreads 

and won an HM for that part but I’ve added to it much more since then and this is the condensed version of the added story for blog purposes.

The Christmas Angel 2 - The Christmas Star

         Christmas is a magical time of year when hearts are lighter, and people seem to care more about others. How I wish this could last throughout the year. Humans would share with others, be kinder and the world would always be an enchanted place. Christmas also brings sadness and an awareness of their place in the universe. These sad sacks whose hearts are battered and bruised, these have a right to be sad. They’ve loved lost, loved ones who were missed from their hearts and dinner tables. Some have gone through trauma, and or illness, they are not vain just simply poor and downtrodden by life. It's unacceptable that some people avoid them. Nerves can be exposed and these people need most of all a human touch of kindness. These people are assigned a Christmas angel. Why am I commenting on this? Because it is now my job to help these people as their Christmas angel as my cousin Mary-Ellen once did for others in The Christmas Angel.

       It is a great honour that has been bestowed on me and I don’t want to fail so I had to be wakeful, watch my subjects and decide how to begin.  I started first with Craig Trent. Craig grieving and lost without his parents has let the one thing he loved, Christina, go out of his life.   So I’ve been whispering in his ear to remind him what he's truly missing. Then I went to Christina and whispered in hers; but the two of them are stubborn’ I’m afraid this will require more so I had to receive permission from Aarush to materialize as a wedding planner.

      How can I accomplish this you ask? Craig ‘accidentally’ bumped into me in the coffee shop several days in a row and since I drop wedding planning stuff every day, his brain starts thinking about what he truly wants. We in heaven know that he wants to wed Christina and spend his life with her for that is what he's always wished and prayed upon the Christmas star.

      Parabart an angel who I met in my reeducation classes has offered to help me by needling Christina about coming home and reminding her of all the times Craig was there for her. I think that might work and I agree. After all there isn’t much time until Christmas my deadline.

     I convince Craig plan a surprise wedding but; the fact is he hasn’t even proposed yet. He hasn't even told Christina how he felt about her. Maybe my plans have gotten ahead of themselves. I am rushing everything I think and rush gets failure.

Parabart informed me that he’s tried his best; but Christina isn’t even coming home for Christmas. Everything is ruined. I’ve blown my first assignment.

       Aarush counselled me about proud going before a fall and then he stepped in 

and worked his magic helping Christina get a sitcom. Christina seemed happier and she  decided to come home. I had to step back and let fate work trusting that these two would find their way now Aarush said.Apparently that  advice didn't count for Aarush,  he  stayed nearby them while I was allowed to watch through the viewer until I was needed.

     Christina seemed happy about actually coming home for Christmas. I heard her thoughts. “Maybe, just maybe she’d have a white Christmas instead of palm trees swaying in the breeze and the sun beating down on her when she went outside on Christmas day Ten long years since she’d been home everything had changed and yet it looked like nothing had changed. The house next door where her best friend Craig lived still looked the same dressed up like the Griswolds for Christmas despite the death of Craig’s parents. I could see the lights made her happy reminding her of the past and I congratulated my self for needling Craig about the  revival of the Christmas lights.

      I heard Christina's thoughts as she exited her car. "Craig had wanted to travel and work in Los Angeles but instead he gone to the University here in town and looked after his ailing parents until six months ago. Poor Craig he’d only been to see Christina at once week a year when her parents had looked after his and then they’d died within two weeks of each other. Mom and dad had called her and Christina flew home but a week wasn’t enough time to comfort your best friend. The last six months instead of the daily calls he now called once a week if Christina was lucky. Had he found someone finally? Christina didn’t know how she felt about that. She wished she could talk with him she missed him surely she see him over Christmas. She told mom and dad to invite him.”

         Christina looked through the window of her parent’s home and she saw Craig. Christina smiled, but then she felt unsure. Christina wanted to share her good news that she landed an acting job with all of them; but her mom and dad were always asking "Did you meet someone? When will you settle down? You should have married Vincent and then pursued your career". Such old fashion archaic ideas belonged in the past; but still after ten years she wondered about Vincent, the football jock who she’d given up for her career. That what if! 

        She starred up at the Christmas star and said, “Star bright, Christmas star light I wish I may I wish I might have the wish I wish tonight. Then she wished to see what her life would have been married to Vincent. 

         I saw Aarush grant this wish and I gasped why was he wrecking everything?

         I watched as Christina entered the house and saw Vincent.

“I’ve been waiting for you. Were you spending all my money? Money doesn’t grow on trees you know and community theatre brings in diddly squat you should quit stay home and look after our kids. .”

“What?” Christina said.

“Are you feeling all right, wife? Because you’re supposed to cook me dinner when we get home and those little brats running around are getting on my nerves.”

“I’m not your wife,” Christina stumbled.

       Two children a boy and a girl ran around the Christmas tree screaming and yelling almost knocking over the tree. Christina wanted to give them a timeout but she didn’t want to offend their parents.

“That ring on your finger says I own you babe and those little rugrats screaming and hitting one another are mine. At least that’s what you tell me.”

“No one owns me.”

       Vincent then bopped her in the nose and broke it.

This is where I'm breaking the story if you'd like to continue reading over the holidays while I'm gone or even immediately go to http://sheilaghlee.blogspot.ca/2016/12/the-christmas-star-part-2.html

©Sheilagh Lee December 14 ,2016

 

Please read and give generously to children in need at Christmas~Sean the Leprechaun~ A Christmas Story

Re-post from December last year; see my mother's story below and see what a little kindness can do for children and how it makes their Christmas and please if you can donate toys for Christmas for children.

I was going across some of my beloved mother's papers yesterday, (the first time since she died) and I found a surprising thing she too had written about the Christmas that stuck in my mind when I was young. I think it's my Christmas present from her and now you can read it.My story is included in my new paperback and e-book Visions of Sugarplums. http://amzn.to/1ROfgLL

In the story she wrote of my imaginative nature;  she also included details I forgot.  It  did happen as she wrote them (in true fact I love her story)so I am going to give you another Christmas treat and post my mother's story for you. The only change to her writing? The Three Word Wednesday words included. The twist? It begins with a leprechaun. Yes, you read that right. Read on and enjoy. 

 Sean the Leprechaun~ A Christmas Story

             Sean was leprechaun. Actually to be completely honest he was just a stuffed doll. He’d been in the family for years and the children had never been allowed to play with him. He was hung in the window by a safety pin through his hat. Because of the children’s love of fairy tales over the years many tales had been made about him consequently the children began to believe he was a real leprechaun. In appearance he was quite ugly; about twelve inches tall; had long spindly legs, a sharp pointed nose and a disfigured face that had aged and discoloured to an ugly mahogany.

         For some unknown reason every time something bad was going to happen we would find him turned inward. I always blamed it on air currents but the children insisted he was warning us and that the pin hurt. Sean had tried to warn us when we travelled out to British Columbia that something was wrong by turning around in the car window and then we’d blown a tire. After that he also turned around when the car almost went over a cliff. My oldest son joked that the leprechaun was vengeful and the younger kids believed him.

         My husband insisted that the leprechaun wasn’t warning us Sean wasn’t vengeful or a savage, but a doll. That the tire had just blown and he’d made a mistake in geography getting too close to a cliff; but my young daughter, Sheilagh as she said her prayers that night said ...”and please tell Sean will get him a new suit if the car doesn’t break anymore.”

          She then said to me. “We can, can’t we Mommy?” I reassured her we could; then realized he was faded. I promptly forgot about it.

               Over the next few months we settled in and Sean was installed in the front window with a beautiful view of the mountains but he insisted on facing in. nothing went right the job my husband was offered caused allergic reactions and asthmatic attacks and then the old injury that had caused us to relocate reared again and my husband was hospitalized.

               During a family conference I explained how there wouldn’t be expensive presents and my oldest daughter blurted out to the younger ones there was no Santa and I had to admit that was true. My youngest daughter insisted with the surety of youth a child there was a Santa. That in fact she believed Daddy was sick because I hadn’t made Sean the suit I promised him and then of course she started crying about not getting a Chatty Cathy. She finished all of this with tears flowing down her face.

           The next day I took Sean down from the window and searching throw my scrap cloth and wool box. I found enough to make a new suit.

When the children came home from school they noticed right away that Sean was missing. Wanting to surprise them I told them Santa’s elves had the flu and Sean had gone to help him in return for a new Christmas suit. This made them happy and reaffirmed their belief in Santa. Even though they somehow understood even Santa didn’t have a lot of money either. They not only accept this idea but demanded bedtime stories of Sean and Santa.

         That Saturday I turned on a Santa television program for them and imagine my surprise when I heard Santa say,” All my elves are down with the flu and my friend Sean has come to help me.”

The camera panned to a doll that was the spitting imagine of Sean.

Muttering “I don’t believe it I went upstairs to look for Sean in my scrap basket. I took everything out piece by piece but I couldn’t find Sean. Following a sleepless night after sending the children to school I wondered where I could have lost him. I searched again and found Sean under a sock that needed darning. How I missed him the first second and gazillion time I don’t know.

         The next day my husband was released from the hospital came home and getting a licence shot a deer for Christmas dinner even though it hurt him to kill such a magnificent animal. We were happier. there was food for Christmas dinner.

Christmas morning Sean was back where he belonged in the window facing out, in his brand new suit. The doorbell rang at five a.m. and I found gaily wrapped presents outside the front door with the children’s names on them.  There had been a light snowfall overnight but the only tracks were hoof prints and two straight lines like those of a sleigh.

         We all stammered “What? Where? Why? How?”, as we looked  at each other in wonderment at the lack of human footprints and the two long lines where something big had rested.

The parcels were opened and to sounds of delight as it revealed a Chatty Cathy doll cuddled tightly, a pair of figure skates, a Bowie knife and a make-up mirror, a large toy crane and a model airplane.

         I found out later that the toys were supplied by an elderly lady who befriended the neighbourhood children and who had given all the children a Christmas party’ but neither she, nor anyone else could explain the lack of human footprints. Sheilagh was sure that she was Mrs. Santa Claus and had brought Sean back with her and the presents.

        Was Sean really a magical leprechaun? I am no longer sure. some things maybe coincidence but others have no explanation . The only thing I’m sure of its that it was the best Christmas ever.

THE END
By Shirley.W.

I hope you enjoyed my mother's story.  My daughter now has Sean and has promised him another new suit not bad since his last one was so long ago.

Merry Christmas!! Happy Holidays and please if you can help children in need at Christmas and throughout the year.

Whatever you celebrate enjoy. One last blog post this Wednesday December 14th then I’ll be back here to my blog on January 2.

Christmas Joy

Honorable Mention Week 242

Christmas Joy

          I sat in a box ,year after year gathering dust in the back of a cold dark shelf, high up in a closet. Then I’d been taken out of my box, dusted off and put  near the lights to give my glass exterior its best colour; but it had been many years since I adorned the sapling by the window.

      How could I bring them their Christmas wishes if they forgot about me year after year? Had something happened to that family? The man kissed his wife under the tree from the time she was twenty and his new bride; to when her hair was thatched with white and their home and filled with more and more descendants every year. Some years ago it had stopped and I lay abandoned on a shelf.

    I heard the door open and my heart filled with joy. A woman I’d never seen before reached for my box dusted me off and took me out of the box marveling at the light that shone through me.

“It’s a done deal; the house is ours,” the man said as he entered.

“Look what I found!” the woman said, “Our first Christmas ornament, an angel. It will bring us luck.”

“I’ve had nothing but luck since I found you but if it makes you happy; let’s put it at the top of our tree.”

   Happy again, I shone brightly at the top of the tree, bringing joy to all, for that was my name.

 ©Sheilagh Lee December 1 ,2016

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