SHARED SENTIMENTS

Saturday, December 20, 2008

(I want to use my space today to share with you a touching, heartwarming story I read in my wife’s November/December issue of Victoria magazine. This is not religious, just an example of remembering others and caring.)

My Son, Peter, and I have always shared a warm and happy relationship. As a single mom, it was important to me that we have our own family traditions. One of our most cherished rituals is exchanging stockings, just the two of us on Christmas morning. He and I would make a little game of sneaking around in the middle of the night to fill each other’s stocking. When he was 20, he moved into an apartment of his own, and though he was only across town, it signified the end of a chapter in our lives. It was bittersweet for both of us. That year, Peter spent Christmas Eve with his fiancée’s family. Although I would see him the next day, I felt an emptiness that nothing could fill. I spent the evening with my sister, and we ended the festivities earlier than usual. I went home and went to bed feeling a little sad.

The next morning, I awoke early. As I was walking down the hall, something in the dining room caught my eye—something that hadn’t been there before. As I walked over for a closer look, I promptly burst into tears. There was my stocking overflowing with little wrapped packages and a card that read, “You didn’t think I’d forget, did you, Mom? Love, Peter.” He had sneaked into the house at 2:30 a.m.! I swear I felt my heart actually contract with emotion. We laughed later when he told me how long it took to ease open the front door so that I wouldn’t hear the bells on it. I’ll always hold that Christmas memory close to my heart. Coleen Hopkins, Redmond Washington