The Perfect Christmas Gifts (standard:drama, 1606 words)
Author: Maureen Stirsman	Added: Dec 21 2006	Views/Reads: 3398/2288	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Cora Golden plans a wonderful Christmas at home, with her family at her side, but a phone calls changes her plans.

The Perfect Christmas Gifts 

“Now be careful on those stairs, dear,” I shouted into the attic. Morris
had been up and down the steps all morning with boxes of Christmas 
ornaments. Yes, it was the first Monday in November, my husband was 
quick to point out, but I had a lot to do. The Frazier Fir, the perfect 
Christmas tree, was out on the deck, to be brought in on the day after 
Thanksgiving. I wanted the house to be festive when JoAnne, Ed and the 
twins arrived. They hadn't been here for the past two Christmases. It 
seemed something always came up. I only hoped nothing would happen this 
year to prevent their coming. 

“Morris, could you please get the phone?” I called to my husband. I was
just putting the last batch of Spritz cookies into the oven, happily on 
schedule. It was December 9th.  The parties were over; the cards were 
in the mail and the fudge delivered. 

As I formed the cookies, I listened to his side of the conversation.
“Yes, honey, I know... It's a shame... I‘ll have her call you... It 
sounds like a good idea to me... Yes, JoAnne, Mama will call as soon as 
she gets done...Love you, too.” I was beginning to feel a little 
anxious when I heard Morris hang up. He came into the kitchen and took 
my hands in his and said, “JoAnne can't come, honey.”  I could feel my 
shoulders drop. “Ed's father has had a stroke and is critical.” 

“Oh no, not again.” Before I could think of poor Edgar the words came
out of my mouth. All I was thinking was ‘poor me'. “Morris, no,” I 
said. After a few minutes to reflect and pull myself into action mode, 
I said that of course we would go. But what about the house, the 
decorations and all? And the tree—we couldn't leave a live tree up 
while we were gone. I had been so counting on Christmas Eve under that 
tree. You know how I love to entertain. That's just me. Then my sweet 
husband, the voice of reason and compassion, suggested that I invite 
the Temple Builders Sunday School class. These widows, the oldest 
people in our church, as Morris pointed out, were unable to entertain 
anymore. I said I knew they had gone out to eat for their celebration. 

“Well, wouldn't it be nice to have an unexpected party then?” Morris
asked. 

It was a wonderful party, with a nice broccoli soup, chicken salad
sandwiches and my Spritz cookies served on my good Christmas china. 
Each of the women went home with a bag of fudge. I have to admit they 
all looked happy. I was tired that night, but I was delighted. ... We 
had put the tree at the curb, with a sign, “Free” and asked my 
neighbor, Eloise, to please watch the house. I gave her a present that 
I had wrapped in my cheeriest red and white striped paper to hold, just 
in case Robert, the strange boy who spent Christmas with us two years 
ago, came by. He had sent a card in the summer, post marked somewhere 
out west. I only hoped he might call or something. He took my heart 
that Christmas when the Ulijases found him at a truck stop. He had no 
home, even though he said he did. Robert was a mystery. I hope he is 
happy and warm wherever he is. As for the Ulijases, I expect to see 
them sometime after Christmas. ... And so it was that we found 
ourselves on an airplane headed for Kansas City. JoAnne is not like me. 
She does things nicely, don't get me wrong, but if two green lights are 
together on the tree, she just lets it go. That's fine. I can live with 
that. JoAnne and the kids were waiting at the baggage claim when we got 
there. It was Saturday, December 16th. The next day Cindy and Mark, our 
twins, would be singing a duet in the church program. Cindy has gotten 
to be such a lovely young woman, so like JoAnne, and Mark is a charmer, 
just like his father. 

When JoAnne and Ed went to work on Monday, Morris helped Mark put some
finishing touches on one of the presents he was making. That left Cindy 
and I, and we chose to go shopping. “What would you like, honey? I have 
some money to spend and I want to spend it on you.” 

“Gram, what I really would love, is if we could get something for the
Grover family,” Cindy said. “Emily is in my class and their father is 
out of work. I know their Christmas will be slim.  She's the one who 
sang ‘Mary did you know?' in the program.” Then we called Emily and 
took her with us. 

We spent the afternoon shopping for the three children, siblings of


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