Greetings and Continuation

Good evening Y'all!!  I pray that wherever you are tonight, that you are warm and snuggled down for a long cold night.  These cold evenings and nights are perfect for your favorite home made soup or home made chili.  Home made soup for your family just screams "love" to me.  That is one of the best ways to get warmed up, is with a big ole' bowl vegetable beef stew and fresh, hot, cornbread.  Guess what hubby will be eating this weekend?  You guessed it, homemade vegetable beef stew.

A couple of posts back, I started a story and told y'all to stay tuned, and I would finish the story.  So, I thought I finish the story tonight.

One Christmas, when I was in Junior High School, some of the family had been to town on a Saturday morning and I spied a watch in the window of one of the stores on the street square.  I ogled and looked at that watch!  I wanted that watch so bad!!!  I begged my mother for it.  She said, "you are not getting it, we've already bought all the presents that we are gonna buy."  Well, "What about Santa Claus, couldn't he bring it?"  Yes, I was in Junior High, but when you are desperate, you will try anything.  And I was desperate.  I wanted that watch.  But, I also knew within reason, I wasn't getting it.  Not because my parents didn't want to get it for me, but they had done finished their shopping and spent their alotted money.

So, after our shopping in town was finished and we started back to the car, I paid one last visit to the watch in the window.  I stood there looking at it and knew it was not going to be mine.  A little down hearted, I caught up with the rest of the family and we went on to the car and headed home.  I put that watch out of my mind.  I never thought about it again.  I knew dwelling on it would result in just heartache, so I forgot about it.

We already had our Christmas tree up.  One of my brothers had gone on a tree hunt and brought back a perfect cedar tree.  That was always the kind of tree we had.  Cedar trees were plentiful and if you had a pretty good eye, you could find a great tree.  When he brought it in, we got it put in a stand and then rigged it up some way so we could keep it watered real good.

Anyway, mom would get out the decorations and hand it over to me and I was in Christmas tree heaven!  I loved decorating the tree.  It was always something that I so looked forward to.  After I got the tree decorated, then it was time for the presents to be piled under the tree.  They were put there a few at a time.  Mom would let me help her wrap the presents for the guys in the house.  Then they all had gifts that got wrapped and put under the tree.  It seemed like every day, there was more and more presents under the tree.

After I would have a good little snoop-a-thon, I could pretty much tell you what every present under the tree was.  Mine and everyone else's.  But, after much digging and digging through all the presents, I found this present that was for, guess who?  You guessed right, Me!!!  I had no idea what it was.  I seriously considered unwrapping it and then re-wrapping it!  They say, "curiosity killed the cat", well, it would have killed this "cat" had I been caught!  Every day till Christmas, I would go and look at this present and finally, I picked it up, and stuck my ear to it and listened.  Didn't hear anything.  I had totally forgotten about the watch in the store window.  It never entered my mind again.

I finally picked it up again and listened to it, and then I shook it for all it was worth!!!!  I stuck it to my ear again, and I'll be, if it wasn't ticking!  Now, remember, I had done forgot about the watch, still had, at this point.  I took that gift and dug a hole in all the presents and pushed it to the back of the pile as quickly as I could.  I just could not believe that two of my brothers had gotten me a "ticking time bomb" for Christmas!!!  gggg  I was so upset, and it was two or three days before Christmas.

I made myself scarce around home.  I stayed away from the crowd and kept to myself.  I knew we fought all the time and picked at each other all the time, but I really didn't think they disliked enough to give me something that would blow up and possibly hurt me and the rest of the family.  ggg   I just could not believe it!

Christmas Day morning rolled around!  I really could not stomach going to the Christmas tree, but I went and got in the back hoping no one would notice me or look for me.  Mom started passing out the presents, and she had some for me and one of my brothers passed them back to me.  Everyone else was ripping them open as soon as they got their hands on them, I was just sick and didn't want to open any.  Finally the last present was gone from under the tree and it was my "bomb".  gggg  One of my brothers that had helped buy it handed it to me.  I still didn't want it.  He had a half grin on his face, and all I wanted do was to smack that grin right off him!  ggg  He made me take it, but I really didn't want to.

Everyone was now waiting on me to open the present.  I was scared to death to open it.  I finally ripped into it, just to get the pain over with, since I knew I was gonna die when it exploded.  ggg  I opened the gift, and squinted at it really hard while I was taking the top off of the box, and inside that box was the watch that I had wanted so badly!  My two youngest brothers had spent their own money and gotten me that watch for Christmas.  I loved that watch more than anything!(written by:pjg 12-12-13) 

I have thought about that a lot over the years.  I've laughed and cried.  It was really funny in the end, but, at the particular moment, it wasn't funny at all.  When we all finally grew up, we realized just how much we all love each other.  Now, when we are all together, there is much laughter and story telling for the younger generations to gasp and laugh right along with us.  Every once in a while, someone will tell a new story that our mom hasn't even heard.  Those are really hilarious.  When she says, "If I had have known that, I would have had a heart attack"!

I don't know if she would have had a heart attack or not, but I can guarantee there would have been more "hide being tanned", if you catch my drift.  She did not cut us much slack.  But, in her defense, with six children, she couldn't cut us much slack, or we would have taken advantage her.  But, I must say, we did have some fun and we still do have a lot of fun when we get together.

If there is anything in this story that you can relate to, thank God!  God made families for a reason.  I believe one of the reasons, is to help us learn how to get along with other people.  No matter how many people are in your family, each and every person is different, and unique.  God made each and every person, that is, that has been, and that will ever be, in His image.  No two of us are exactly alike, but we each have been made in His image.   It can help us at times, if we remember that each one of us is made in His image.  That makes it all the more easier to love my brothers, because they are made in His image.  It makes it all the more easier to love my brothers and sisters in Christ, and strangers alike, because each and every one of us are made in His image.  Look in the mirror, and love what you see, because what you are looking at was created in the image of God!  

Stay warm Y'all, hugs, and have a blessed night, Patty