The Christmas Ornament

In a small country farm house near Krakow, Poland lives a mother named Helen.
She went by the Polish word for mother Matka.
Her child, Stanislow eagerly waiting for Christmas.

Stanislow asked daily “When are we going to get a Christmas tree to decorate?”

It was a Sunday and the bells rang from the old Polish church in town. Matka stood frozen in the kitchen as Stanislow came running from his bedroom into the kitchen. Matka put her finger to her lips, the universal sign, “to Shh!” Stanislow watched as Matka’s lips moved in silence before her hand touched her forehead, her chest and both shoulders, accompanied by the words “Amen”, then placed the rosary beads into a cup on the countertop. She turned to Stanislow and said “Go get your coat”.

Finally, the day of getting the Christmas tree had arrived but first breakfast. After breakfast, Stanislow stood and put his coat on as Matka headed for the back door. Pulling her shawl off the wooden peg, she tied her red Christmas babushka on her head and stepped outside. Stanislow followed.

The ground was hard and solid. The wind blew straight across the acreage. Vegetation had dried up and now the fields were empty. Overnight the ground became covered with an inch of snow. The powdery kind that swirls up into your face as the wind swirled in a circle and blew at the back verandah. Although the snow had stopped falling, the strong surface winds continued to pick-up the fresh snowflakes and blew them around, causing very low visibility.

Covering her face with her babushka, she looks out past the covered fields to the far edge where the woodland trees meet the field. Seeing what she was looking for, she headed towards the barn. Walking together, they both put their arms straight out and shuffle along for stability. At the barn door, Stanislow pulls on the handle and the barn door slides along its track to the left. Walking in, she pointed to the upper part of the barn. Stanislow climbs to the hay loft as Matka walks to the stall where Maryja, the horse, was resting. Matka knew Maryja was up for the job. This horse had a quiet temperament. She is a Sztumski; a tough breed with great stamina. The whistling winds would not faze her nor would the swirling snow. After bridling the horse, she led her outside and behind the barn where the sleigh was waiting. Oh yes, the kind that every kid dreams about at Christmas.

Inside the corral, was a gorgeous two-seater that was made from quality oak and black leather with antique lamps, one on each side. The black runners are decorated with ornamental carvings and converge at the top where 29 polished silver sleigh bells are mounted on the large wooden snow screen. Behind the seat is a flat square platform. The sleigh belonged to Matka’s grandfather and many years ago, she helped her husband restore it to its current condition.

She walked Maryja around to the front in order to hitch the horse to the sleigh. Stanislow shuts the barn door and comes running around the side of the barn, stops and runs towards the tool shed to get a hand saw.
When he returns, Matka is sitting in the sleigh ready to go. Stanislow hands the saw to Matka and climbs in. In between Matka and Stanislow was a hand-woven basket.

“Did you put hay in Maryja’s stall?” Matka asked.
“Yes,” Stanislow answered.
“Good, when we come back, she can have her breakfast,” Matka said, smiling and brushing the snow off from her son’s hair and face. “Did you feed the other horses?” Matka inquired.
“I brought hay down for everyone and put it into their stalls.” Stanislow stated.
“Thank you.” she replied.

Raising the reins of the horse Matka shouted 'Let's go.'' Maryja began to pull the sleigh forward, out of the corral and journeyed to the edge of the farm where the beautiful Norway spruce trees had grown. Both Matka and Stanislow were excited and smiled as the sleigh glided along the fresh snow and the bells made a jingling sound. Even Maryja looked proud with her tail swinging freely as she navigated her way to the far edge of the land. Maryja stops before the edge of the field on the farm, where the groves of spruce trees were planted years ago.
Matka comforted her saying, “Good Maryja,'' to the right” and pulls the right rein to give her direction. Maryja turns right and pulls the sleigh along the edge of the forest on the left side and the open farmland on the right.
Stanislow points and says, “There, I like that one.”
Matka tells Maryja to halt, “Oj,” (whoa). The horse pauses.
Matka inspects the tree from the sleigh then looks at Stanislow and moves her head up and down in agreement. “Yes,” she smiles at her son.

Stanislow grabs the hand-woven basket and leaps off the sleigh into the snow.
The overnight winds had blown pinecones down on the ground and now the winds are blowing them all around. It is Stanislow’s job to collect them while Matka cuts the tree they had chosen. Laughter breaks out as Stanislow chases after the pinecones that roll on top of the snow. Matka giggled as she watched her son having fun. Suddenly the wind kicked up a dust of snow from the spruce trees and sprayed everyone. Matka gave a surprised laugh, Maryja bobbed her head up and down then walked forward. Stanislow fell to the ground laughing and made an angel in the snow. Matka pulled back on the reins and said “Steady, Maryja.”

When the winds slowed, Matka stepped down from the sleigh with the saw in her hand. She walks to the tree, cuts it down and places the tree on the flat square platform in the back of the sleigh. Then she walks to the neighboring tree to snip off a few branches and places them in the sleigh. The horse’s head starts bobbing again as she watches Stanislow rolling on the ground. Matka yells to Stanislow to stop.
“Stanislow, you’re making Maryja nervous, please stop what you’re doing,” she asked.

Stanislow stood up and walks toward Maryja. “Don’t be afraid,” he said calmly as he approached from the side, rubbing her body and then sliding his hand down her nose. “I love you.”

“Time to go,” Matka said.
Stanislow moves to the sleigh, handing the basket to his mother and climbs on. He turns his head to look behind him and states with a big smile on his face, “What a beautiful tree, I can't wait to start decorating.”

Maryja slowly trots back to the barn and it begins to snow again. As the sleigh
bells jingle, Matka begins to sing a traditional Christmas carol. Stanislow
joins in. Both are very happy.

As the sleigh approaches the barn, Matka tells her son, “When we get to the
barn, I want you to open both doors. I want to put the sleigh inside.

The horse pulls up to the front of the barn doors and stops. Stanislow
does what his mother asked; gets out and slides both doors wide open.
Already the horse wants to go in so as soon as the doors open. Like a quick roller coaster ride, Maryja takes
little effort to drag the sleigh into the barn’s entrance way on the
concrete flooring and travels half way down the center aisle almost to the door of
her stall.
Matka tells Maryja to halt, “Oj,” (whoa).
Stanislow laughs at the sight. He closes the barn doors and runs to
his mother saying ” Oh Matka, I wished I was in the sleigh, it looked
like so much fun”.
Matka smiled even though the horse surprised her. She steps off
the sleigh, grabs the reins and tethers Maryja to a small hitching post
next to the horse’s stall.
”Slanislow, please get me a towel” Matka asked ”and Maryja’s blanket.”
”Yes, Matka,” he said respectfully and returns quickly with the
items. Next Stanislow grabs the tree off the sleigh’s platform and
drags it to the back verandah of the house while Matka wiped the wet
snow off of the horse’s mane, back and tail, drying the shiny black
coat and placing a blanket on Maryja’s back before walking her into
the stall. Stanislow comes running back into the barn.
”Slanislow, please get some alfalfa and give it to the chickens.
Don’t let them out. It’s best to keep them inside the barn today.” Matka
tells her son.
”Okay” he replies.
Matka goes to the back of the sleigh, looks around for the tree and
then grabs the extra branches that she had cut and the hand saw.
When Stanislow finishes with the chickens, he returns to the
center aisle of the barn where the sleigh was resting.
Matka tells her son, “Thank you for all your help.”
Stanislow replies “I’m so happy we got a Christmas tree to decorate today?” He then grabs the hand-woven basket and both walk out of the barn but not before Matka reaches for two hoops hanging by the sliding barn doors.

The strong, gusty winds had stopped and a gentle snow continues to fall from the sky. They head towards the back verandah. Matka tosses the extra branches that she had cut and the hand saw next to the Christmas tree on the opened porch.

Inside, she took her shawl off, babushka and hangs it on the wooden peg by the back door. Stanislow follows and places the hand-woven basket filled with pinecones on the floor and hangs his coat on a peg next to his mother’s shawl.Grabs a stack of newspapers by the door, she immediately begins placing the newspapers on the kitchen table and putting the hoops on top of the newspapers. She then walks to the gas cook stove and turns on the top burner heating up a tea pot filled with water.
“Gor?ce kakao” (hot cocoa) she calls to Stanislow.
“Yes, please” he answered.
Stanislow steps up to the kitchen table. His face is flushed from the cold air. He smiles and asks, “What’s next.”
“Well” she replied “Let’s go to the attic to retrieve the ornaments and lights”.

In the upstairs attic, she began to rummage through many boxes and pushes the ones she wants towards her son. Stanislow picks them up and brings them downstairs. On his fourth time up, Stanislow notices that his mother’s forehead is wrinkled. She is looking around very confused with her eyebrows drawn together, her mouth pulled tight.
“Matka, what’s wrong” he comments.
“I can’t find the bows for the wreaths” she utters in a quavering voice.
“Matka, you gave it to me already” he tells her. “I put that box on the kitchen table and turned off the stove.
“Oh, my son, Matka cries. “Thank you!” “I’m glad someone is paying attention” she continues then smiles at Stanislow.
“Is this the last box?” he asked.
“Yes”, she replied.
“It’s heavy” he states.
“It’s the stand for the tree” she adds.

Downstairs in the kitchen, Stanislow goes outside to retrieve the extra branches while Matka makes two cups of “gor?ce kakao” (hot cocoa). She places a tray of kolaczki (traditional Polish cookies) on the table along with the two cups. Stanislow puts the branches on the far end of the table then sits.
“First we eat” Matka says with a smile “And then we work”.

Clearing off the table, her son pulls the hoops, branches and box with the bows closer to where she is sitting. Suddenly Stanislow has the same look that his mother had upstairs in the attic. His forehead is wrinkled. He is looking around very confused with his eyebrows drawn together, his mouth pulled tight. Then he remembers; the basket of pinecones where, he left it by the back door. Stanislow goes to the back door and brings the basket to the table. Matka comes to the table with miniature snips and wire that she retrieved from the kitchen cabinet draw. She hands the snips to Stanislow. He cuts the branches into 6 inch pieces while she bunches them together and attaches them to the base of the hoop with wire. She keeps adding another bundle, overlapping the previous one, wrapping the wire around the bundle and attaching it to the hoop. When the entire hoop is covered, she pushes it aside and starts on the second hoop.
“Enough” Matka states “now I want pieces of wire about five inches long”.
“I like the smell of Christmas”, Stanislow tells his mother.
She grabs a piece of cut wire and attaches a pinecone to a bunch of branches on the wreath. Looking carefully through the basket of pinecones, she chooses a small cone this time and places it on the bottom right side of the hoop. She does this several times until she likes the appearance of the wreaths. Then she stands up to look through the box of bows. Choosing two red bows with long ribbon tails that are similar in appearance and medium in size, about 10 inches wide. She wires each bows to the top of each wreath, then turns it to face Stanislow and asks, “Do you like it?”
Her son nods his head and says, “Yes”.

Still not satisfied, she looks into the box of bows for something else.
Seeing two candy red Christmas Ornaments with white polka dots, she grabs them. ''Perfect''!
She places each Christmas ball on a wreath and her eyes smile with approval.
Facing the wreath, she showed Stanislow.
“Pi?kny!” (beautiful) and he smiles at his mother.
She moves her head up and down in agreement. “Yes! Now let’s go and hang them. She grabs the snips and wire from the table.
Stanislow stands and goes to the back door to put on his coat. Matka
follows, carrying the two wreaths, the snips and the wire. She hands the
wreaths to her son as she put the snips and wire on the bench next to the
back door. Matka pulls her shawl off the wooden peg, drapes it over her
shoulders, then the babushka and grabs the snips and wire. They both step outside again.
Now there’s two inches of snow covering the ground.
“Which way are we going?” Stanislow asks.
Matka points in front of her. This time they head out into the fields towards
a large oak tree on the west side of the house where the old family cemetery
is located. As they get closer to the oak tree, they see a large traditional
shaped grey granite cross on a small summit. Their family surname is
engraved on the horizontal cross beam. Behind this cross are two small
identical matching headstones. The one on the left side has the names of
Matka’s parents. The one on the right has two names engraved; Andrzej on the
top followed by the name Helen underneath.
“Matka” Stanislow calls out, “Why is your name on the stone?”
“Because I will be buried with your father someday” she tells her son.
“But Matka, Who will take care of the farm?” Stanislow inquires.
“You and your wife” she replied in a very matter-of-fact way.
Stanislow puckered up his mouth, wrinkle his nose, and closed his eyes in a show of discomfort, a typical response from an eight-year-old boy and stated “the girls at school are mean to me”.
“That’s because they are not mature” her mother tells him. Someday,
you will find someone who sees how strong and handsome you are. Putting her arm around his shoulders and gives him a big hug.
“Just like you and Tata (papa)” he asks. “Yes, you look a lot like your father” she tells him and smiles.
“Now help me put these wreaths on the grave's stones. Remember and never forget your ancestry, she pleads.
Before leaving the family graves, Matka and Stanislow silently pray. Then Matka turns and slides her hand on the back of the granite cross, over the names of her grandfather and grandmother as she walks past saying “I love you.” (Kocham cie )

Walking back to the house Stanislow inquires, “Why did Tata died.”
“He had a serious infection and would not go to the doctor. He finally had to be hospitalized and because he waited too long; he died from what is called septic pneumonia” his mother tells him.
“Oh” he said but did not know what septic pneumonia was nor did not want to ask. “Did you love Tata?”
“Most certainly, there is no question” Matka replied in her very matter-of-fact way.
“When are we going to decorate the Christmas tree?” he asks.
“When we get home,” she states.

As soon as he entered the farmhouse, Stanislow ran to the boxes in the family room, where he had placed them earlier. He looks for the heavy one, the one which held the tree stand. Pulling the stand out, he places it in the corner between two windows, so from the outside you can see the lights on both sides. Matka walks in slowly to see what her son is doing.
“Okay,” she says, “let’s go get the tree from the back verandah.”
She continues, “I’ll cut a few inches from the bottom of your tree then I’ll come in to move the kitchen chairs out of the way. That’s when you can drag the tree into the house.”
“I’ll come outside after I fix the tree stand, okay?” Stanislow said.
“Good.”

A few minutes later, Matka calls from the kitchen as she moves the chairs around, “The tree is ready!”
“Coming”, Stanislow yells as he sets up the family room and puts the box with the decorations next to his mother’s favorite sitting chair. Then he straightens out the mat underneath the stand.

Stanislow runs past her and out the back door. Grabbing the trunk of the Christmas tree with both hands, he pulls the tree close to the door. As he reaches for the door handle, his mother opens the kitchen door from inside.
“Come in”, she said and follows her son and the tree into the living room. Placing the tree into its stand, Stanislow steps away to see if the tree is in its correct position before falling to his knees, then tightens up the hardware screws on the stand. Standing up, he walks backward still facing the tree and speaks, “What a beautiful tree.”

Matka steps away from the tree also walking backward and purposely falls back into her chair. She reaches for the box, pushes it closer and opens the top to look inside.
Let's start with the lights. Walking around the tree Matka placed the lights as Stanislow watched.
There, now it's your turn and sat down again. Reaching into the box again, she grabs the first ornament, a red ball with the words- Wesolych Swiat (Merry Christmas!).
She hands it to her son saying, “This is from your Uncle Szczepan
(Steve)”. Stanislow takes the ornament from her and hangs it on the tree.
Matka grabs another decoration from the box. This time she unwraps a Hand-
painted glass ornament made by Vitbis, which is a Polish manufacturer located
in Z?otoryja, Poland. The ball is White with green holly and a Red Bows
design.
“Now this is from your grandparents, they’re my Matka (mother) and
Tata (father). There should be two of them. She looks back in the box
and smiles. Yes, here is the second one,” she states. She waits as
Stanislow hungs each ornament.
Next to come out of the box is a small wooden birdhouse with its bottom
practically hanging off and a few birch sticks on its roof needing repair.
Stanislow walks over and questions, “What is this?”
“You and your Tata made this for me” she tells him.
He looked puzzled and said, “I don’t remember that.”
“Well, you were only three” she informs him.
“You mean Tata made it”, he snaps back.
“Stanislow, what color is it?” Matka asks in a stern manner.
“Orange” he replies.
“Yes, your favorite color. Your father and you went to the tool
shed to build it and painted it on our kitchen table. You sat on his lap.
He put the paint brush in your hand and asked you what color you wanted. You
chose orange and with your hand in his, you painted the birdhouse” She
explained to her son.
Stanislow reluctantly hung the birdhouse and asks “Matka, what’s your
favorite color?” When he turned back to his mother; she was crying. “Matka,
what’s wrong” he asked.
“Nothing son, these are happy tears,” she told him. Stanislow notices
on her lap a beautifully painted Egg.
“What's this one?” he asked, “It looks like a large Easter egg.”
“Yes, it does,” she said “It was given to me by my babka (grandma).
She would be your great-grandmother, Sophie. It's my middle named. I loved
her very much. We should hang this one together. It’s very special to me
and fragile. I don’t want it to get broken. My Babka wanted me to have it. She
said that Santa gave it to her when she was a little girl. She told me that
it came from a very special place called Moriah Hallow. The ornaments are
hand painted by the famous rabbit called Noam and his forest friends. Noam
and Santa are best friends. Every year Noam would give Santa these
ornaments to give to best people who help all God's creatures. She told me
that the true meaning of Christmas came from this egg. It is filled with
hope and love. On the tree it becomes a symbol of God's love to everyone who
enters this house. A Christmas prayer.
Let me tell you how it works. On Christmas Eve, after we have finished
our Christmas Eve meal, we take the ornament and share it with everyone at the table.
The person, who holds it, has to tell everyone a good deed they have done in
the past year. Then they say “Share God's Love”.
Next, they have to close their eyes and ask for something Good for the next
year, but don't tell anyone. Then they must say “Pass it forward.”
With that, they give it to the next person until everyone has spoken.
Then we put it back on the tree, sharing God's love to everyone who visit our home.

“Are we going to do it tonight?” Stanislow asked with excitement.
“Yes” his mother says as she stands up and asks “Where should I put
this ornament?”
“There,” Stanislow points to the highest branch on the tree.
“Oh Matka, it’s the prettiest decoration by far”.
“Red” she says as she looks at her son, “my favorite color is red”.
Now I’m going to get some apples from the kitchen,” Matka utters “And
I want you to pick out a few more decorations from the box”.

In the kitchen, Matka quickly tidies up; sweeps the pine needles off the
floor, puts the extra pinecones in a paper bag to plant in the spring, clears
the table and takes out her home-made pierogies (filled dumplings) and
blueberries she had frozen. She places them on the counter to thaw out.
On the counter top was a bowl of fall apples. Picking the reddest she carefully
wraps a wire around each stem. She does this six times then carries them into the
family room. Walking in slowly, she tells her son, “I believe you are right, Noam’s egg ornament is
the prettiest decoration”.
Stanislow faces her, smiles, and inquires, “Matka, Why are there so
many rabbits in the box?”
“That’s because your great-grandmother loved and admired the Rabbits,”
Matka stated as she hands him the apples. He twists the wires around the
branches to complete the tree.

“Pi?kny!” (beautiful)she tells him. Matka returns to the kitchen to
begin making dinner. On the Menu tonight is fried fish, salad, pierogies and
for dessert, Polish cake with blueberries. Matka spends hours working in the
kitchen, as Stanislow goes outside to finish his chores. She finishes just before sunset with the
preparation.

Covering the table with a white tablecloth, she puts an additional place
setting for a stray wanderer or an unexpected guest, a tradition her mother had taught her on Christmas eve. Steps out onto the opened porch, she yelled “Stanislow, dinner is ready.”
He replies, “Coming!”
All thought-out dinner, they talked. The first question he asked his mother
was, “what’s your favorite color?”
“Red” she says, “I wish you would pay more attention”.
“I do, I just was checking,” he told her.
Next question, “Why did we wait so long before getting a Christmas tree?”
“Well, this year has been very dry with little precipitation or snow.
The ground must be frozen and there must be a snow cover before we can use
the sleigh”.
“But why can we get a tractor like Mr. Broza,” he demands.
“Well, when you get a job, you can save and buy your tractor,” she
swiftly responds.
“But Matka, after school and farm chores, I don’t have any time left,”
he promptly states.
“My point exactly,” she tells him and smiles.
Stanislow pauses and takes a few bites, then asks “How did you meet Tata?”
“My Dziadek (Grandpa), who is your great-grandfather, hired him to
work on the farm. Dziadek (Grandpa) was a very hard worker. In the very
beginning he used to grow tobacco. He was very successful however one year
the government came and took all of the tobacco, giving him nothing for it.
So, he decided the following year, he would grow alfalfa hay instead.
His decision made your great-grandmother Sophie so nervous.
She would repeatedly ask, “Walter, what is going to happen when they
come back next year?”
His reply was, “They can smoke hay”.
Stanislow laughed and asked, “Well did those mean people come back?”
“Yes they did,” Matka answered “And when they asked him for his
tobacco, he told them that they said it was inferior last year so he stopped
growing it”.
“Did he get in trouble?” Stanislow curiously inquired.
“No, what could they do? Dziadek (Grandpa) told the truth”.
“Did Tata help your Dziadek (Grandpa)?”
“Yes, they got along and worked together very well. Enough questions, it
getting late and we have to check on the animals,” Matka said.
“But Matka, you said we could play the game with Noam’s egg,” he pleads.
“Yes, but let’s do the chores first.” Matka stands and cleans off the
table as Stanislow finishes eating.

Outside, they both head for the barn, properly dressed for this snowy night.
The fresh powdery snow has not stopped since they returned from their early
morning sleigh ride to get their Christmas tree.
“Wow, look at all the snow!” Stanislow says to Matka.
Matka stops, bends slightly forward then steps down and drives her boot into
the snow. “About five inches,” she tells her son. “Hard to tell because
of the drifting snow”.
Looking at his mother, Stanislow tells her, “Santa’s sleigh will work
easily tonight.”
She smiles at him; at the same time thinking to herself, well isn’t he
full of conversation, must be on account it’s Christmas Eve!
Again Stanislow questions, “How does Santa deliver the packages if it
does not snow?”
“He asks Noam and his forest friends to help.”
“How so?”
Noam and the Forest Friends replaces the sleigh runners with wagon wheels. You do know that Santa’s
reindeers have superpowers. They fly. So, a sleigh is able to glide on the
snow, well the four-wheels on the wagon can push the ground making it easy
for the reindeer to pick up enough speed for take-off.”
Stanislow keeps walking and thinking about what his mother just said.
Once in the barn, they accomplish their task easily and quickly. Matka fills
the water and Stanislow does the feeding. Matka stares down the center
aisle looking at all the wooden plaques hanging outside each stall door
with an animal’s name engraved, something she insisted on and her husband
made happen. She remembers how fences got repaired, barn doors replaced and
hayracks were built once Andrzej began to work for her Dziadek (Grandpa). Of
course, nothing would have got done if it wasn’t for her teaching the
new hire just how it should be done.
Her Dziadek (Grandpa) used to say to her, “He has the making of a
carpenter but I hope we can make him a farmer”. She also remembers Andrzej
(her future husband) saying, “Would you get your head out of the way, so I
can finish.”
As Matka slips her hand into her pocket she remembers as a child, her
mother calling. She was running through the kitchen to the back verandah on
early Christmas morning.
“Helen, are you going to the barn?” Her mother would ask.
“Yes, Matka,” she would answer.
“Come here,” her mother replied.
Returning to the kitchen, she watched as her mother reaches up for a square
box in the upper kitchen cabinet; the 2nd cabinet left of the stove. Her
mother would count out six tiny cubes of sugar on the counter, scoop them
into her hand, walk over to her daughter and shove them into her daughter’s
coat pocket.
“Now remember one each and keep your hand flat. The horses can’t see
the cube, they can only feel it,” she told her daughter.
“Matka, I’m finished” Stanislow states.
Matka looks down and smiles at her son. She takes out six tiny cubes and
says, “two each and remember to keep your hand flat. The horses can’t see the cube, they can only feel it”.

As soon as they walk back to the farmhouse, Stanislow begins talking about
Noam’s egg prayer. Matka knows the ornament is irreplaceable so she
tells her son, “I’ll get the egg off the tree”.
Returning, from the family room to the kitchen, she see Stanislow
searching through the kitchen cabinets.
“What are you looking for”.
“Chrusciki (a flaky pastry treat showered in confectioners' sugar). Did
you make them?”
“The upper kitchen cabinet; the 3rd cabinet left of the stove” she
tells him.
After successfully finding the tin box, Stanislow sits as Matka brings a
steaming hot chocolate cups and a plate of blueberry cake.
Sitting, she hands him the ornament telling him to go
first. “Tell us a good deed you have done this year” she explains to him.
Stanislow ponders, his dilated eyes staring at his mother.
Suddenly he shouts, “I know, I helped a young doe who got stuck in a hole.
I help him find his mother.
“Now you must say “Share God's Love,” Matka informs.
Stanislow repeats, “Share God's Love.”
“Next you must close your eyes and ask for something good for the
next year, but don't tell me,” Matka instructs.
Stanislow closes his eyes but immediately opens them asking, “Will it come
true?”
“Yes.”
Again Stanislow questions his mother, “How do you know?”
“I wished for you and you’re here!” she smiles.
Stanislow tells his mother “Thank you”. Holding the egg ornament
near to his heart, he closes his eyes a second time and makes a wish.
“Now you must say “Pass it forward,” Matka mentions.
Stanislow echoes “Pass it forward,” as he hands the ornament to his
mother.
Now it’s her turn to tell a good deed she has completed this year.
“Let me see” she states while looking up toward the kitchen ceiling and
bringing her lips tightly together she thought.
“What about last Winter, the fox in the backyard,” Stanislow interrupts her
thoughts. “You got him some medicine that help rid him of his mange.”
“Yes, that was a good deed,” she agreed with her son. “I helped
the red fox in our yard,” and states “Share God's Love.” She closes
her eyes to make a wish. “Pass it forward,” she said as she opened her eyes.
The grandfather clock in the family room chimes nine times. Matka looked at
her son and says, “It’s time for bed”.
Stanislow reluctantly stands up without protest and finishing his hot chocolate . He walks around the table
to his mother and gives her a hug and a kiss.
“Merry Christmas, I love you son,” she tells him as she holds him with tight hugs
“I love you too,” he replies and headed upstairs to his bedroom.
“Tomorrow’s a big day,” Matka reminds him.
Tidying up the kitchen she puts the tin box back in the 3rd cabinet on
its shelf, gently grabs Noam’s egg and walks into the family room. Placing the egg ornament back on the tree, walked to the front hall staircase to check that Stanislow was asleep. Turning the hall light off, then returning to the family room.
Opening up a closet door, she picked-up a large corrugated box and
drops it in front of her favorite sitting chair. She steps over the box and
rests in her chair.
The box has come from overseas. It arrived a month ago, approximately the
middle of November. The labeling indicates it was shipped from the USA.
Matka picks her head up to admire the Christmas tree then leans forward and
pulls the box top cover open. The inside is filled with used, crumpled
Christmas wrapping paper she guesses from last year’s Christmas. Taking the
crumpled wrapping paper out piece by piece, Matka comes to an envelope. She picks up the envelope, sits back into her chair comfortably and opens it.
It’s a beautiful Christmas card written in Polish. Grabbing her
reading glasses from the small accent table next to her chair and opens the
letter. A bundle of money wrapped in dark paper appeared. Matka
puts the money on the arm pad of her chair and begins to read the letter:
Dear Sister, Your prayers have been answered. I’ve had a very successful year in my construction business. I hope you and Stanislow are well. I have received the oplatek (a thin, flat, Polish wafer) from you. Thank you for keeping the tradition going. My elder daughter, Anna, looks forward to it each year. My youngest daughter, Broncia, reminds me of you. She just adores animals. My wife is afraid that there is something wrong with her. I keep telling her “just let her be, maybe she’ll open up her own veterinarian business someday”. I should send her to you for a summer to work on the farm. Broncia would like that. I told her about Babka’s (grandma) egg ornament from Noam. I remember my wish every year was to live in America. I don’t know where Babka found the egg ornament. I have searched everywhere for one.Have a very Merry Christmas sister and give your son a great big hug from me. Your brother, Szczepan (Steve). P.S. Please keep praying for us.

Matka takes the card and holds it close to her chest as if she is hugging it.
She reaches for the bundle of hundred dollar bills and begins to count; one
two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, and ten. Matka stands,
unzips the chair seat cover and stuffs the one thousand dollars into the
cushion. Something she has seen her grandparents do many times. She has
even seen them bury valuables in the backyard.
Matka places the card next to her on the table then begins to pick items out
of the box. First out is a pair of used boys’ jeans. “Great!” Matka says.
Next, more crinkled paper which she places on the floor. Then she picks out
a boy’s flannel shirt; and a second boy’s flannel shirt, this time it’s
fleece-lined. Matka inspects it. The custom declaration papers stated all
used clothing however, they look new to me. “Oh, this is like new,
Stanislow is going to like this” she tells herself. Two dress pants with
shirts to go with them, a pocket knife and a box of HERSHEY'S Milk Chocolate
Candy Bars (36 count). “Seriously brother,” she states. Lastly is something
that takes Matka's breath away. Taking out of the box an elegant V neck flared
dress, solid red with long sleeves. “No, " she said, “This cannot be used” as
she stands up and puts the dress against her body. “Maybe one of the girls
did not like it,” she thought as tears poured out from her eyes. “I can wear
this tomorrow”to church Matka thinks.
For the next hour, Matka sits on the floor and uses the crumpled Christmas
wrapping paper to wrap the gifts for her son. She hangs her new dress in the
closet, picks up all her son’s gifts and places them around the tree.
Walking back, she admires the tree saying “What a beautiful tree.” She walks
to the dining cabinet to retrieve the baby, Jesus. She puts him in the
manger together with the nativity set under the tree. Bending down, Matka
notices a package wrapped in newspaper. “It’s Christmas Eve, I'll wait for
tomorrow,” she states.
Matka wishes Jesus a Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas!
Then touches Babka’s egg ornament she says “Merry Christmas, Babka, Merry Christmas, Noam!”
She touches the ornament from her brother, “Merry Christmas brother and family!”
Finally, she looks for the small wooden birdhouse in the tree to wish her
late husband (Andrzej) a Merry Christmas! But it's gone.
“That’s what he was doing in the barn,” Matka smiles, “I wonder
if it’s red.

Merry Christmas, to all