Maine Minutiae: Brotherly Love

More Than a Gift

I found this story by accident searching for something else, and I'm glad I did. Since it's a short story, I lifted the whole thing from The Holiday Spot website. True or not, this story is the perfect example of selflessness and brotherly love. Enjoy.

The Joy of Giving

Reggie�s brother gave him an automobile as a Christmas present. On Christmas Eve Reggie came out of his office, and saw a street urchin admiring his shiny new car.
"Is this your car, Mister?" he asked.

Reggie nodded in affirmation, "My brother gave it to me for Christmas." The boy was surprised. "You mean your brother gave it to you and it didn't cost you anything? Boy, I wish..." He hesitated. Reggie knew what he was going to wish for. He was going to wish he had a brother like the one Reggie has. But what the lad said was far beyond Reggie�s expectation.
"I wish," the boy went on, "that I could be a brother like that."

For a few seconds words failed Reggie and then he impulsively added, "Would you like to take a ride in my automobile?"
"Oh yes, I'd love that."

After a short ride, the boy turned towards Reggie.His eyes were glowing and he said, "Mister, would you mind driving in front of my house?" Reggie smiled a little. He thought he understood what the lad wanted. He wanted to show it off to his neighbors that he could ride home in a big automobile. But Reggie was wrong again.
"Will you stop where those two steps are?" the boy asked. He ran up the steps. In a little while Reggie heard him coming back, but he was not coming fast. He was carrying his little brother who was physically challenged. He sat him down on the bottom step, then sort of squeezed up against him and pointed to the car. "There she is, Buddy, just like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him for Christmas and it didn't cost him a cent. And some day I'm going to give you one just like it...then you can see for yourself all the pretty things in the Christmas windows that I've been trying to tell you about."
Reggie got out and lifted the lad to the front seat of his car. His brother whose eyes were gleaming with joy climbed in beside him and the three of them embarked on a memorable holiday ride.
That Christmas Eve, Reggie learned what Jesus meant when he said: "It is more blessed to give..."

---

Texas Tidbits: Christmas Lights and Sue Ann Hunt

Away in a Manger

When I was a kid, Christmas time meant the usual stuff to me, Santa, gift-giving and supper or lunch at both sets of grandparents' houses amongst other things. Besides those things, the BEST THING about Christmas was when Dad hollered "Load up!" and all piled into the family car. Those two words, "load up!", meant not only were we going somewhere, but since it was Christmas time, it meant we would go on a ride all over Fort Worth and look at the Christmas lights and yard displays at homes throughout Cowtown.

Dad always had a plan when we rode around looking at the sights of the season. We'd start out in our neighborhood then kind of fan out to other parts of Fort Worth. After going through several middle class areas of town, we'd stop at a Drive In hamburger joint and scarf down a burger and fries, then hit the road again. But now, we were going to see the lights in the neighborhoods where the "rich", or my idea of rich, folks lived. I can still remember one of the "nicer" neighborhoods that we toured over fifty years ago like it was yesterday.

The first place we went to after eating was the neighborhood surrounding the school where I went to first grade - Springdale Elementary and Mary Gill was my teacher. This area was an "Oh, wow!" area. To a little boy, the Christmas lights and yard displays were awe-inspiring. Not only did the homes have the cool lights and yard stuff, but some of the yard displays actually moved! Oh, wow! I can still picture one of the homes' decorations in my mind. There were lighted candy canes all aglow, a manger scene and a Santa's sleigh with all the reindeer, including Rudolph and his red nose. But the amazing thing to me was that the reindeer moved as if they were actually pulling Santa's sleigh! Oh, wow! On subsequent  trips to this neighborhood during the Yuletide season, I would always pay extra close attention to see if ant other houses were as cool as the "Oh, wow!" house I just described. But nothing was ever as cool as that house and it's animated Santa sleigh and reindeer thing.

One more very vivid memory of this neighborhood is of Sue Ann Hunt, my very first real girlfriend. Sue Ann was also in Mrs. Gill's first grade class with me. She was the prettiest girl in first grade and she was my girlfriend. We were inseparable. Over the years, I have often thought about Sue Ann and what became of her. Where ever she is, I'm sure she's still the prettiest girl in the neighborhood. Merry Christmas, Sue  Ann.   :)