SOLDIERS CHRISTMAS NIGHT

[Carol Anne Kincaid~Paradis]

Every day brings a new set of opportunities and challenges. May you overcome your challenges and take on the opportunities. Good Afternoon and have a happy Friday!

Soldiers Christmas night...‘Twas the night before Christmas, and he lived all alone

In a one bedroom house made of plaster and stone.

I had come down the chimney with presents to give

And to see just whom in this home did live.

I looked all about and a strange sight did I see

No tinsel, no presents, not even a tree.

No stocking by the mantle, just boots filled with sand

On the wall hung pictures of a far distant land.

With medals and badges, awards of all kinds

A sober thought came to my mind

For this house was different, dark and dreary

It was the house of a soldier, I now could see clearly.

The soldier lay sleeping, silent, alone

Curled up on the floor in this one bedroom home.

The face was so gentle, the room in disorder

Not how I pictured a United States soldier.

Was this the hero of whom I had read?

Curled up on a poncho, the floor for a bed?

I realized the families I saw on this night

Owed their lives to this soldier who was willing to fight.

Soon ‘round the world the children would play

And grown-ups would celebrate a bright Christmas day.

They all enjoyed freedom, each month of the year

Because of the soldiers like the one laying here.

I couldn’t help wonder how many lay alone

On a cold Christmas Eve in a land from home.

The very thought brought a tear to my eye

And I dropped to my knees and started to cry.

The soldier awakened and I heard a rough voice

”Santa, don’t cry, this life is my choice.

I fight for freedom, I don’t ask for more

My life is my God, my Country, my Corps.”

The soldier rolled over and drifted to sleep

And I couldn’t control it, I started to weep.

I kept watch for hours, so silent and still

And we both shivered from the cold night’s chill.

I didn’t want to leave on that cold, dark night

This Guardian of Honor so willing to fight.

The soldier rolled over and with a voice soft and pure

Whispered, “Carry on, Santa, it’s Christmas Day, all is secure.”

One look at my watch and I knew he was right

Merry Christmas, my friend, and to all a Good Night.

This poem was submitted by a Soldier stationed in Iraq.

The following is his request. I think it is reasonable.....

"PLEASE. Would you do me the kind favor

of sending this to as many people

as you can? Christmas will be coming

soon and some credit is due to our

service men and women for our being able

to celebrate these festivities."

Let's try in this small way to pay a

tiny bit of what we owe. Make people stop and

think of our heroes, living and dead,

who sacrificed themselves.

Please pass it on to all your friends and family..

Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself. – Rumi

Little Bobby was getting cold sitting out in his backyard in the snow. Bobby didn't wear boots; he didn't like them and anyway he didn't own any. The thin sneakers he wore had a few holes in them and they did a poor job of keeping out the cold. Bobby had been in his backyard for about an hour already. And, try as he might, he could not come up with an idea for his mother's Christmas gift.
He shook his head as he thought, "This is useless, even if I do come up with an idea, I don't have any money to spend,"
Ever since his father had passed away three years ago, the family of five had struggled. It wasn't because his mother didn't care, or try, there just never seemed to be enough. She worked nights at the hospital, but the small wage that she was earning could only be stretched so far. What the family lacked in money and material things, they more than made up for in love and family unity. Bobby had two older and one younger sister, who ran the house hold in their mother's absence. All three of his sisters had already made beautiful gifts for their mother.
Somehow it just wasn't fair. Here it was Christmas Eve already, and he had nothing. Wiping a tear from his eye, Bobby kicked the snow and started to walk down to the street where the shops and stores were. It wasn't easy being six without a father, especially when he needed a man to talk to.
Bobby walked from shop to shop, looking into each decorated window. Everything seemed so beautiful and so out of reach. It was starting to get dark and Bobby reluctantly turned to walk home when suddenly his eyes caught the glimmer of the setting sun's rays reflecting off of something along the curb. He reached down and discovered a shiny dime. Never before has anyone felt so wealthy as Bobby felt at that moment.
As he held his new found treasure, a warmth spread throughout his entire body and he walked into the first store he saw. His excitement quickly turned cold when the salesperson told him that he couldn't buy anything with only a dime.
He saw a flower shop and went inside to wait in line. When the shop owner asked if he could help him, Bobby presented the dime and asked if he could buy one flower for his mother's Christmas gift.
The shop owner looked at Bobby and his ten cent offering. Then he put his hand on Bobby's shoulder and said to him, "You just wait here and I'll see what I can do for you."
As Bobby waited he looked at the beautiful flowers and even though he was a boy, he could see why mothers and girls liked flowers.
The sound of the door closing as the last customer left jolted Bobby back to reality. All alone in the shop, Bobby began to feel alone and afraid. Suddenly the shop owner came out and moved to the counter. There, before Bobby's eyes, lay twelve long stem, red roses, with leaves of green and tiny white flowers all tied together with a big silver bow. Bobby's heart sank as the owner picked them up and placed them gently into a long white box.
"That will be ten cents young man," the shop owner said reaching out his hand for the dime.</p>
Slowly, Bobby moved his hand to give the man his dime. Could this be true? No one else would give him a thing for his dime!
Sensing the boy's reluctance, the shop owner added, "I just happened to have some roses on sale for ten cents a dozen. Would you like them?"
This time Bobby did not hesitate, and when the man placed the long box into his hands, he knew it was true. Walking out the door that the owner was holding for Bobby, he heard the shop keeper say, "Merry Christmas, son,"
As he returned inside, the shop keeper's wife walked out. "Who were you talking to back there and where are the roses you were fixing?"
Staring out the window, and blinking the tears from his own eyes, he replied, "A strange thing happened to me this morning. While I was setting up things to open the shop, I thought I heard a voice telling me to set aside a dozen of my best roses for a special gift. I wasn't sure at the time whether I had lost my mind or what, but I set them aside anyway. Then just a few minutes ago, a little boy came into the shop and wanted to buy a flower for his mother with one small dime.
"When I looked at him, I saw myself, many years ago. I too, was a poor boy with nothing to buy my mother a Christmas gift. A bearded man, whom I never knew, stopped me on the street and told me that he wanted to give me ten dollars.
"When I saw that little boy tonight, I knew who that voice was, and I put together a dozen of my very best roses." The shop owner and his wife hugged each other tightly, and as they stepped out into the bitter cold air, they somehow didn't feel cold at all.
~ Author Unknown ~
May this story instill the spirit of Christmas in you.
Have a wonderful and peace-filled holiday season ...

Love and Blessings... Carol Anne...