Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We thought it would be uplifting for all of us who can to post heartwarming stories this Christmas season. True stories. Current stories, especially from Western North Carolina. Like this one:
In October, Hendersonville held its annual "Bearfootin' in Handersonville" event. Every year about ten bear sculptures are donated by town merchants. Local artists donate talent to paint each unique bear. The bears decorate the sidewalks for weeks. Then they're gathered together for an auction. Proceeds go for charitable causes.
Today's church bulletin reads:
"There was a bright shining Golden Bear and her Baby that the children of Dana Elementary School had fallen in love with during a downtown field trip. During the year, they hosted barbeques and craft fairs to raise funds to be able to bid on the bear. Their principal led the bidding on a sunny Saturday afternoon. However they reached their maximum limit of funds at $2,000 before the bidding was over. The disappointment on the children's faces was poignant.
An anonymous gentleman in the crowd quickly let the Principal know to keep bidding and he would be responsible for the difference. Soon the kids heard the magic word, SOLD! The stranger handed the principal the money and slipped back into the crowd. It was another amazing example of the generosity that lives all around us. By the way, the Golden Bear's name is "BELIEVE"!
good post. a note on charity and america
charity is a christian virtue, hence the word christmas. does not come from the human spirit, hence the huge disparity in asian charity and western charity even allowing for GNP differences.
The grandparents looked up at the IMAX theater and saw "Polar Express in 3D" on the marquee. Yes, this is a terrific movie to take their four year old grandson, Jacob, to see. It sounded like a fun movie for a boy entering those great years of believing in Santa Claus. Besides, the movie had received great reviews and the IMAX screen was huge. This should be fun.
-----
John and Laura had Christmas shopping to do. John suggested they take the red and white MINI Cooper, the toy sized car that they used for clowning and that John used when he played Santa. As is his wont, John put on his Santa beard and moustache, red pants, a red shirt with white t-shirt, white tennis shoes with red socks, and a ball cap that read "I Believe in Santa Claus." Shopping as "casual Santa" this way was a fun thing John did every year. The casual clothes didn't upset the store Santas but still made quite a striking impression on kids and adults alike. And so dressed thus, off to the mall they went.
The shopping went well and as they were headed back to the car, they spied the marquee on the IMAX Theater: "Polar Express in 3D." Looking at each other and thinking the same thing, as over 30 years of marriage does to a couple, they decided to go watch the movie. What fun it would be! They love Santa movies and this one was in 3D and had good reviews. So in they went.
Waiting in the lobby, they were surprised at how few people were there. Perhaps people were just too busy shopping to see a movie in the afternoon. And then in walked a couple with a small boy. He was the only child in the lobby, waiting to go in.
He immediately spied "Santa" but was a little hesitant to go to him. And so John, in his casual Santa suit, went over and knelt down next to the boy and started to talk with him. They warmed to each other very quickly and visited while waiting to go into the theater. John found out the grandparents, Don and Meg, had brought their grandson, Jacob, to see the movie with them.
Now, the IMAX Theater assigns seats by row and number to avoid open seating problems. John and Laura found their way to their seats, almost dead-center, half-way up. They were great seats and would make the viewing fun. Much to everyone's surprise, Jacob rushed over and sat next to John. Sure enough, Jacob's seat was right next to Santa! It was quite a coincidence.
The movie started and Santa felt a small hand on his. He glanced over and noticed that Jacob was looking up at him, wide-eyed, and was holding his hand. The warm feeling of Christmas overcame him and Santa kept his hand in place.
The movie was wonderful, filled with exciting images, music, and great Christmas themes. In 3D, it was quite a thing to behold. During the entire movie, Jacob held onto Santa's hand. Every so often, he would glance up and Santa and just take in the sight of this man in red with the white beard and flowing white hair sitting next to him.
Near the end of the moving, the theme "Believe" was repeated. And then the significant moment when the young boy shook the bell, heard it ring, and believed again in Santa. Eyes throughout the theater were wet. Santa wiped his eyes with his free hand, not wanting to be seen crying. But Jacob was watching and knew.
Exiting the theater, Santa handed a picture and business card to Don and Meg. They read the card and showed it to each other, taking just a few seconds to do so. When they looked up, however, Santa was gone. No one saw him leave. He just disappeared.
"That can't be real," said Don. He must have been a "plant" by the theater. No way that could have happened. "But how did he just disappear."
"He was Santa," said Jacob.
Meg and Don looked at each other and in their hearts, they heard a bell ringing. And they believed.
Two years later, they contacted John and asked if he still was Santa. Pleased at the affirmative answer, they invited him to a party at their home, mostly for adults, but Jacob would be there.
At the party, Jacob, now six years old, spied Santa and his walked up, boot bells jingling the soft tinkle they do. "Santa!" he cried!
"Hello, Jacob," answered Santa.
"How do you know me?" asked the lad.
"I remember watching the movie together, don't you?" answered Santa.
"Yes! Yes! You are THE Santa Claus!"
Jacob hugged Santa tightly and then ran off. Very quickly he was back with his book, "The Polar Express." Inside was the picture Santa had shared 2 years before, the business card, and copies of the emails Santa sent Jacob.
As the evening went on, Jacob stayed as attached as a growth on Santa's costume. "He never has hugged anyone so much in his life," Meg commented. Santa smiled and commented, "I will always remember that day. It brought to the fore my two favorite words: Believe and Serendipity. We went shopping and found a miracle. We found belief in Jacob and in ourselves."
The circle was complete. As the years pass, Jacob's view of the events will change with his maturation. Mine, however, will remain memories of love, serendipity and what it means to Believe.
good post. a note on charity and america
charity is a christian virtue, hence the word christmas. does not come from the human spirit, hence the huge disparity in asian charity and western charity even allowing for GNP differences.
Thanks for the interesting clarification, Bunky39. You made me realize that in my admittedly provincial mentality I equate "human spirit" with "Christian spirit" and "human generosity" with "Christian generosity" because in my personal experience they're all the same. For me, there is no "generosity of the human spirit" except that which emanates from the loving God and Father who created all of us to be, like Him, generous and loving.
Thought I would post this story as reported by our local news tonight here in Houston, TX. I'm not sure if it truly fits the subject of this thread, but I think it demonstrates that there are still good, honest people, even in this HUGE metropolis of 4.5 million people!
The police set up a sting operation to try and catch purse snatchers because, of course, it's the season of shopping, shopping, shopping and they usually are able to nab quite a few this time of year. They had an undercover police officer carry a Gucci purse that had lots of cash, expensive perfumes, cell phone, ipod, etc. in open view and she went all over several different malls and would leave the purse sitting unattended at several different places. What happened was that over the course of the day 22 "good samaritans" either picked up the purse and brought it to the owner (the officer) or called attention to the owner by saying "you need to be more careful with your purse, especially this time of year, and not leave it just laying around". They didn't nab one purse snatcher and as the officer reported, it made for quite a boring day! But she did say that it was reassuring and heartwarming to know that there are still good, honest people around because she sees so much more of the bad side of humanity than the good side. But the main message is still to always, always be extremely cautious.
Thanks, Father John and Carolyn--your stories are just the kind I was hoping folks would contribute. Stories like these reinforce our faith in the inherent goodness of human beings... a goodness that comes from God ("good" and "God" come from the same word root)... a goodness that is comforting to remember as we enjoy all that is beautiful about the Christmas season!
Many years ago, when I worked for the City of Mesa, we sponsored the Child Crisis Center in Mesa at Christmas time. We received the names of the boys and girls there and what they wanted for Christmas. We hung these on a tree in our office and then we purchased those gifts for the kids, wrapped them, and put their names on the packages.
I was asked to deliver the presents as Santa Claus and I readily agreed. What a terrific way to bring the presents to these children who would not be home for Christmas because of some abuse or other difficulty in the home that placed them in the care of the wonderful people at the Crisis Center!
The day came and I went into the Center as Santa. The staff said they wanted the presents under the tree for Christmas. It seems the children come and go and they were afraid some would not get a gift if they were passed out just to the names we had gathered a couple weeks before. So Santa sat in a chair and had each child come up, sit on his lap, get a candy cane, and tell Santa what he or she wanted for Christmas.
Most of the requests were of the usual type: cars, dolls, the latest video games, or bikes. But one girl gave me a request I have never forgotten and I will never forget her, either.
Her name was Brianna and she asked, "I want to go with you to the North Pole to live with you."
My heart almost broke. This wasn't something I could do. I tried reasoning with her; "Why, Brianna, there aren't any children at the North Pole and it is cold there!"
"Yes, but there is Mrs. Claus and the elves and you. I want to go live with you."
Nothing I said would suffice. She would not take no for an answer and she would not suggest anything else. Finally, I said I would have to think about it because it was the hardest request I ever received. She said she would leave the light on in her room Christmas Eve so I would know where to find her.
As the other children came forward and made their requests, Brianna kept her eyes glued on me. Every so often, she would ask, "Are you thinking about it, Santa?"
When I went home that night, I was in dismay and sadness. I relayed the story to my wife and when our eyes locked, we knew what we were going to do. We are such kindred souls, I can't imagine anyone I could love more.
The next day I called the Child Crisis Center and asked about how to adopt Brianna. They couldn't talk to me about her at all, but suggested I call the person in charge of such things at the CPS Offices. So I made that call, too. I told them the story and the urgency: it was December 23 and I wanted to see if anything could be done. The woman promised to get back to me.
Sadly, it was after Christmas when she called. Even worse, she said Brianna's family refused to allow either adoption or even foster care. She could discuss the matter no further.
Now, more than a decade later, I still think of Brianna. We would have adopted her. We would have loved her as our own. Circumstances happened in the coming months that proved it probably was for the best that we did not adopt her, but we have never forgotten her. I still can see her on my lap.
"I want to live with you."
You do Brianna. You always will.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
