Sunday, December 16, 2007

A Little Birthday Miracle

Tonight we celebrated Laynie and Jeanne's birthday. Birthdays are a remarkable thing, reminding us annually of the miracle it was that a child was born. It's a time that is so happy and carefree that we actually willingly and joyfully eat food that has been spit upon. (To my knowledge birthday cake is the only such food.)
Laynie received many gifts but the Little Kitty CD player was her favorite. Had we known, we all could have gone in on it together and it would have more than sufficed. She wanted to carry it all over the house (unfortunately it was plugged in at the time). I think it made her feel "grown-up" like Addison who has an old CD player in his room.
Since the big party for Jeanne is to be held Tuesday night, she received a couple small items so she could join in the party. It was the little gift I gave her that gave rise to the birthday miracle. Sometime ago it came to me that Jeanne needed a knitted Christmas stocking like all the rest of us. She didn't have one because she knits them for the rest of us and for some reason never knitted one for herself. Years ago I purchased a rather pathetic stocking for her and wrote her name on it. For whatever reason, this year it seemed particularly out of place. Of course, we didn't get around to decorating for Christmas until the first week of December so as I began my search for knitted stockings, what seemed like a good idea quickly became discouraging.
There were many on-line stocking knitters, but one after another told me they were booked for the rest of the season and there could be no "Jeanne" stocking until next year. Then came the little miracle. I called a sweet woman in Vermont who knits stockings and inquired about one with the name Jeanne on it. She told me she couldn't make any more for this year but that she did have a box of overruns or extras or something that she would check. She checked it as I was on the phone with her. "OK, here are the j's. Jackson, Jane, Jacob ... Did you say J*E*A*N*N*E?" "Yes, I did." "Well, here's one. It's green and red with sleighs and bells on it and the name "Jeanne" embroidered on it. Will that work?" "That is just great!" I was filled with thanks and awe that another little miracle had happened in my life. Then the voice on the other end of the phone said, "Oh, since it's in my overrun box, it's half price." If you know me, you'll understand, the miracle had just become HUGE.

2 comments:

byoung said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
byoung said...

way to go dad-what a great idea fr mom to have a stocking of her own! thanks for putting so much new stuff on your blog, i love to read it!!!

love you
becca