“But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.”
— Luke 2:19
The little girl kept peeking at the gifts under the tree.
It was a simple tree – the very same that had made the journey from attic to living room and back again once a year for many years – its artificial evergreen branches always neatly adorned by strands of tiny lights as well as dozens of little teddy bears, each carefully hand-crafted out of leather in Grandpa’s workshop. As the little girl watched the lights dance between the bears and shimmer on the wrapped gifts below, she pondered in her heart – with a joy pure and simple – how many of those treasures were meant for her.
“Presents!” said her grandpa suddenly, “Time for presents! Tradition is the youngest who’s able must pass out the presents!”
The entire family looked at the little girl. The youngest of the bunch for a few years, she was now finally old enough to read the “to and from.” Though she had seen her cousins pass out the gifts many times before her, she still felt nervous, even giddy, about her new responsibility.
“Remember,” Grandpa told the entire room, “No one can open their gifts until all gifts have been passed out.”
“Go ahead, sweetie,” her mother said.
The little girl almost danced and tiptoed over to the teddy bear tree. Retrieving one present at a time, she slowly read the “to and from” and then delivered each gift to the correct family member. The first was from her mom to her dad, the second from her dad to her cousin, and the third from Santa to … her!
The little girl’s heart leapt with joy.
“Here sweetie,” her mother said, “Just stack up your gifts by the fireplace while you pass the rest out.”
And so it went, one at a time, as the gifts journeyed from under the teddy bear tree to each member of the family. Most had one or two gifts to their name, but the little girl’s stack by the fire kept climbing higher and higher. Gift after gift, treasure after treasure, from every family member (and many more from Santa too!) were all addressed to her.
But her work was not yet done. There were still more gifts under the tree!
“Are they all for … me?” she wondered to herself.
Yet, as the little girl went to retrieve the remaining presents, someone else’s name, the same name, kept showing up again and again and again – until no more gifts were left.
Her work finally done, it was time to open her presents, but then, the little girl noticed something she just couldn’t quite keep to herself.
“Why does Grandma have more gifts than me?” she asked innocently.
The room filled with laughter.
“That’s because today isn’t just Christmas day,” Grandpa said, “it’s also Grandma’s birthday.”
“Grandma, you were born on Christmas?” the little girl asked, turning to her grandmother in shock.
“That’s right!” her grandmother laughed, “that’s why my middle name is Carol.”
“You share a birthday with Jesus?” the little girl asked in amazement.
“We all share a birthday with Jesus, sweetie,” her grandmother answered, “but only those of us born on Christmastide get extra birthday gifts.”
“Can I help you open some of your gifts?” the little girl asked.
“Of course you can,” said her grandmother, “but open yours first. I can’t wait to see what Santa brought you.”
Joey Clark is a native Alabamian and is currently the host of the radio program News and Views on News Talk 93.1 FM WACV out of Montgomery, AL M-F 12 p.m. - 3 p.m. His column appears every Tuesday in 1819 News. To contact Joey for media or speaking appearances as well as any feedback, please email joeyclarklive@gmail.com. Follow him on X @TheJoeyClark or watch the radio show livestream.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to Commentary@1819news.com.
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