Monday, November 28, 2005

A Christmas Story

He was a rough and tumble two year old boy.  It seemed liked everything he touched, he broke.  He loved his trucks and cars but was just so rough.  He broke his sister's toys; not on purpose.  That's just the way he was. 

Christmas was fast approaching.  The barrage of toy commercials was on every TV channel.  Then he saw it.  He ran to get his mommy.  He wanted her to see it.  She was very busy but he finally managed to drag her to the t.v.  She looked at the commercial.  He could tell by her expression that she was not going to get it for him.  He knew she thought he would not take care of it and break it like everything else.

He had to tell Santa; he just had to.  But he was terrified of Santa.  His mom made his sister and him get their pictures taken every year on Santa's lap at he mall.  Oh, how he hated that but he had to do it this year.  His mom had an odd, questioning expression on her face when he asked when they were going to the mall to see Santa.  She told him very soon.

He found a picture in the advertisement section of the paper and tore it out as gently as he could.  He put it under his pillow for safekeeping.  Santa had to see what he really, really wanted so he would get the little boy right thing.

The day came to see Santa.  Oh, how scared he was but he had to be brave to show Santa the picture.  He clutched the crumpled paper in his little hand.  His heart was pounding by the time it was their turn to talk to Santa.  His mother noticed a small piece of paper sticking out of his hand when the picture was developed that day.  What could it be?  Then she saw it after it had fallen out of his hand when he fell asleep in the car on the way home.  It was that toy again.  But it was very expensive and his dad wanted no part of it because he just knew that the little boy would only break it.  His dad said it was a waste of money.

But when asked what he wanted for Christmas, that was the one and only thing the little boy ever mentioned.  He prayed to Jesus for this toy.  Even as a little boy, he talked to Jesus all the time and surely Jesus would make sure he got it.

Christmas morning came.  He ran down the steps with his sister and looked at all the wrapped gifts.  He looked ever so hard to find a box the size of what he wanted.  His mom gave him some things but that wasn't it.  He could feel a tear forming.  Disappointment was no stranger to this little boy.  And then..there it was...the box.  He tore it open.  He couldn't believe his eyes.  There was his new best friend in the whole world...Teddy Ruxpin.

He ever so gently took the box and put it on the sofa.  His dad never drank on Christmas so he wasn't afraid to ask him to open the box and put the batteries in.  "My friend, my friend"...The ever gentle, kind, loving songs of Teddy Ruxpin.

Teddy stayed in his bed always.  He was gentle and loving to Teddy.  Teddy was special. When friends came to visit, he gave Teddy to his mom to put away for safekeeping.  Teddy sang him to sleep every night.  Teddy went to his Grandpa's with him.  His Grandpa also loved Teddy and they spent many happy hours listening to Teddy and looking at the books.  Grandpa loved the little boy beyond words and loved the fact that there was a bear who sang such sweet songs to his special little boy with so much strife in his life. 

Teddy's eye was fixed and his mouth was fixed until Teddy could be fixed no more.  By then the little boy was not so little but Teddy would always be one of the brightest spots of this little boy's broken childhood.  The little boy's name is Joey.  His mom is me, Chris.........

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Awe, I love that!!! Thank you so much for sharing! ~Brandie

Anonymous said...

What a tear jerker:)

Deb

Anonymous said...

You write very nice, Chris. This would be good enough to write as a child's story for a book. Very talented!

Thank you for sharing this very special memory!

betty

Anonymous said...

Beautiful story Chris.  I love it.  Thank you so much for writing this and sharing it with us all.  GBU, Shelly

Anonymous said...

Ah, tears in my eyes here Chris!   Beautiful.
To answer your question - I do comment on Andrew`s blog often but he gets hundreds of comments per post and I know he doesn`t read them all. He does get to his mail from what I`ve read so I sent him a card.
~Penny

Anonymous said...

I remember Teddy!  What a sweet story and a trip dwon memory lane.

Kara :)

Anonymous said...

What a very sweet story Chris...
thanks for sharing... =)
Hugss..~Terri~

Anonymous said...

Hey...great site for overstock christmas presents and stuff. 50% off iPods, Disney stuff, discount airline tickets too. Now be careful...and don't spend too much! lol

http://rightdowntown.com/infosource.html

Anonymous said...

Oh Chris...what a story!! I'm glad you did a link to this one!!!! http://journals.aol.com/shayshaydc/Golfaholic
Sharon:)

Anonymous said...

What a great entry, and story. It made me all misty eyed...stop that..lol  Thanks for sharing.
Dwana

Anonymous said...

Chris,  Great post.  Thanks for sharing!  David

Anonymous said...

This is such a beautiful story. I'm glad Sharon came up with her great idea.
Dianna

Anonymous said...

Every child needs their "Teddy Ruxpin", don't they? That is a beautiful story. Thanks for sharing it.
Hugs, Barb  

Anonymous said...

I got one of those for Christmas for Trista as well....I almost forgot about that...They grow up so quick don't they...Trista will be 22 yrs old...wow...where does the time go??? hugs,terryann

Anonymous said...

OMG Chris...this made me teary eyed!!  I wonder, does he still have that teddy somewhere?
Pam

Anonymous said...

Okay.. hand me a tissue will ya??  Geesh!  I'm sitting here with big tears running down my cheeks.  What a beautiful story,Chris.  Anyone who has a child will relate to this story.  Thank you for leading me to it!

Now I'm going to read the other one..

Hugs
Jackie

Anonymous said...

Awwww (((((Chris))))) and ((((((Joey)))))) what a BEAUTIFUL story, no wonder it's your favourite entry and yep, you made me cry too. I'll love Teddy Ruxpin forever after this!
big hugs and love Debbie ~xxxxxx~
http://journals.aol.co.uk/debbiewebb4465/TheLifeTimesofanEssexGirl

Anonymous said...

Hugs & much love...
Sug

Anonymous said...

Ohhh. That was such a sweet memory. Thank you so much for sharing it with us.

Hugs,
Tia