The Christmas Angel.(Kevin Hughes) The man was old, lonely, and growing more and more isolated. His best friend had died three years earlier…and his wife (a pang of grief followed every thought he had of her…good or bad) had passed two Christmases ago. He locked his car with a press on the key fob, then he turned to head into Walmart. A store he only went to in order to get his prescriptions filled. He barely looked at anyone…and no one looked at the old man either. For all practical purposes in Life…he was invisible.

“Perfect!” Said the Christmas Angel.

Inside the store, a young Mother, towing three children behind her, was smiling on the outside, but sobbing inside. There was no way she could afford any gifts for the children at Christmas…again. They still had the “IOU”s she had given them last Christmas. She was unable to take them back from her children. This year, she couldn’t even have the Ham she usually made for Christmas. Meat was just too expensive. The kids wanted her to at least walk down the toy aisle so they could dream about the toys they would get. She tightened up her guilt and shame and put them in a little ball in her heart.

“Okay, but don’t take any toys off the shelf.”

The kids practically flew towards the toy aisle, the Mother had to grin at their glee. Then she had to walk faster with the cart to catch up to them.

“Perfect!” Said the Christmas Angel.

The old man stood patiently in the long line at the Pharmacy. He thought to himself that every single person in the city must be sick, otherwise why such a long long line…and just a week before Christmas too. He wasn’t angry or impatient, those are two qualities he had never had. He was just curious. His mind was wondering if this was normal for the Holidays…or if the News got it right and everyone is catching something this Holiday season. He was so distracted he didn’t even notice…at first….the gentle tug on his pants. When he did, he stared down in surprise.

Tugging at his pants was a little girl, maybe five years old at best. She held a piece of paper in her hand…there were tears in her eyes. She kept tugging with one hand, and holding the piece of paper up with the other. She looked up at him with those wide honest eyes that only children seem to be able to make.

“Yes, young lady?”

The little girl stood up on her tippy toes to wave the paper up at him. He understood and took the paper. He read it. It was an IOU for a doll. It was beautifully hand written in a flowing cursive. He admired the calligraphy and was saddened by the text. It was a promise to buy a doll…next Christmas. He looked down into those warm wet eyes with genuine curiosity.

“Did you get your dolly yet?”

She liked the old man’s smile. She never had a Grandpa, but she thought he looked like one. Grandpa’s buy gifts for children is what she thought. When she saw him in line, she thought that is how old a Grandpa should be…and maybe he could take Mommy’s IOU and buy her her dolly. She had a small speech prepared in her little five year old mind…but when he finally looked down at her…all the words went away. All she could do was hold the IOU up for him to read. Tears puddled in her eyes but didn’t spill over onto her cheeks.

She shook her head no.

“Oh, why not? You have your IOU.”

The girl’s words came back to her (with just the slightest nudge from the Angel’s wings):

“Mommy gave this to me last year at Christmas…but she says this year she will have to give us another IOU. She says times have been tough.”

The old man smiled. He remembered his own “tough times” when his Dad worked the old mines and Mom made do to feed him and his six brothers. He remembered that first year of marriage where him and his beloved wife were so poor that they had to make do with a Christmas Plant and a bottle of ginger ale as their champagne. Bittersweet memories flooded his mind and heart…with a little nudge from an Angel’s wings.

“Oh, and where is your Mommy now?”

The little girl turned and pointed towards the toy aisles.

“Over there with my big brothers and the baby. The baby can’t walk yet so he gets to ride in the cart. He took my spot!”

He had to chuckle at the indignation in the little girl’s voice. It was obvious that she was a little put out that she couldn’t ride in a cart because of the baby.

“Well, well, we can’t have that, can we?”

The old man tapped the woman in front of him, offering a genuine smile and a soft request:

“Miss, would you mind terribly if I took your empty cart to give this little girl a ride to her Mommy?”

The woman looked down at the little girl beaming up at her with a hopeful smile. Her heart softened without even a smidgen of Angel interference.

“Oh, of course. I don’t even know why I got the cart, I am just picking up my meds. I guess it is just habit. Go ahead, take it.”

“Thank you. And Merry Christmas to you and yours!”

The woman smiled as the old man lifted the little girl into the cart. The little girl also offered a quick “thank you.” Once she was loaded up in the seat, the old man turned the cart towards the toy aisle and said the weirdest thing:

“Okay, now let’s go redeem that IOU for you.”

The woman turned back to watch the line move…the little scene already fading from her memory. Her good deed filed away as just a courtesy…instead of the opening gambit in a miracle. She didn’t think it was a big deal at all. The Christmas Angel made a note. Something would go well for that woman…and soon.

The young Mother was frantic…where in the world did Missy go? Her heart was thumping as she tried to rein in the two older boys, put the pacifier back in her baby’s mouth and try not to panic. She was just about to scream at her two boys that they had to go NOW…when she saw an old man coming towards her. He was pushing an empty cart with Missy in the seat. Missy was chatting with the old man…who waved at her over the child’s head. Pointing down at the girl in the basket he mouthed the words:

“Is this yours?”

She mouthed back in relief:

“Yes!”

She waited as they pulled up to her nearly empty cart. All she had was a few boxes of cereal, some salad stuff, and a gallon of milk, other than that, her cart and her wallet were both nearly empty. She saw the old man glance at her cart…she blushed. Somehow, he knew. He smiled at her when she looked back up. It was a nice smile. For a second, a memory of her Father snuck into her forebrain. Her Dad had smiled at her like that often when she was a child. That smile that says I am so lucky to have you as my child. She missed her Father. She was only ten when he died. She brushed the sad part of that memory away, and kept the smile part.

“I hope you don’t mind, little Missy here told me she doesn’t get to ride in the cart anymore because Mommy went and had a baby. “

She couldn’t help it. She laughed at both her little Missy smug smile, and the old man’s delight at her daughter’s comment. She could see the old man trying to find a way to ask politely where Daddy was. She told him the truth.

“My husband died almost two years ago in a car wreck. He never even knew he was going to be a Father again.”

The old man reached out one hand to hold her shoulder. She surprised him by launching herself into his arms. By reflex he wrapped his arms around her as the tears poured out of the young lady. He just made little soft safe sounds and held her. Little Missy reached over with one pudgy little hand:

“Mommy…Mommy…are you okay? Don’t cry.”

She steeled herself and leaned away from the old man enough to look at her daughter as she wiped her eyes.

“I am fine honey. I just missed Daddy for a bit.”

The little girl nodded her head and pronounced with the wisdom that comes naturally to children:

“That’s okay Mommy. So do I."

Then she broke the spell, changing emotional states with the rapid fire ease of a five year old.

“He says he is here to redeem (looking up at the old man with a quizzical look) that’s the right word…right?”

The old man nodded, patted her head with one wrinkled hand and said:

“What a bright girl, you remember such a big word. I am proud of you.”

The little girl straightened up at the compliment. Then she hustled to get all the other words out:

“He says he will redeem (she looked up as she said the word again…she was beaming and the old man delighted in her growing confidence) all of our IOU’s from last year!”

The young Mother looked at the old man…shocked, hopeful, but not wanting to impose in any way. He saw that look. He knew desperation mixed with hope…he had been there too.

“That is correct. Not only will I honor the IOU’s, but I think we should (pointing down at her meager collection of groceries) fill that cart up too. Then…I suggest we all go for Ice Cream.“

The two older boys squealed.

“Ice cream? But it is cold outside!”

Little Missy made them all laugh when she put her tiny fists on her hips and said:

“Silly boys…that just means the ice cream won’t melt all over our hands.”

The old man turned to the young Mother:

“I hope that is okay with you? I don’t have any Family since my wife passed.”

The young Mother took the old man’s hand in hers as they pushed their carts down the toy aisle…side by side. She squeezed his hand and said out loud:

“You do now.”

The Angel flapped her wings as she headed out to the parking lot where a young lady had slipped in the snow and twisted her ankle. A young man just a few months older than the girl who had slipped, had just gotten out of his car. He looked over at the girl sprawled in the snow and wondered if he could overcome his shyness and go help.

The Christmas Angel felt the brief kindness that the shy boy held in his heart. She also felt the connection the girl had almost immediately as she looked around for someone to help her up…when she saw the tall boy get out of his car…she hoped he would help her. The Angel nudged the shy boy…with just a brush of her wing.

“Oh, my gosh, are you okay? Do you need some help?”

“Perfect!” Said the Christmas Angel.

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