Christmas Miracle

Laurie Emerson

29 years ago I was a young wife of a year, we did not have much as my husband was a new Airman in the Air Force and the pay then was low to say the least.. I had married my childhood sweetheart and thought myself the luckiest person in the world. 

To add to my joy, I had just found out I was pregnant and was on cloud nine. I cooked a special dinner and bought candles to create the perfect evening for myself and the man I so much loved. I watched the clock slowly tick away the minutes till he walked in the door. The minute he walked in the door I knew something was wrong as his face was chalk white. He told me in a voice of tears that he just received orders to Vietnam and would be leaving within a month. To this day, I still remember the way I felt. My heart sank and I felt as if my world had come to an end. I remember we cried in each others arms for hours and when we stopped I told him about the baby. You could see the happiness, pride and fear as heard the words.

I remember taking him to the Airport and him bravely and sadly waving goodbye from the airplane window. I tried to be so brave but after I got in the car, I broke into tears which I thought would never end. We were stationed in Kansas and far from home as our family was in New Hampshire, where we were from. They tried so hard to get me to come home until he came back, but I wanted to show everyone I could be independent, so I stayed.

I wrote him everyday and he wrote back. I stopped watching the news as it also had something about the war. I did not sleep much at night as I feared a knock on the door in the early hours of an already too long day.

I had a little girl with the prettiest red hair and bluest eyes. She looked exactly like her dad and I held her close promising that her dad would come home one day and we could all be a family once again. We were each others comfort and joy and as I rocked her each night, I sang to her and prayed to the Good Lord to watch over my husband and keep him safe. Time slowly went by and before I knew it, it was Christmas. I admit that I just could not get into the Christmas spirit. I always loved this day, as my family celebrated it with such joy when I was growing up. We had all the tree, trimmings, but most of all we celebrated the birth of Jesus. I tried to hand onto that, but when my daughter and I would go out, it seemed like families everywhere were smiling but most of all together. I would quietly return home. I was not going to have a tree, but my mom told me on the phone, that I should at least have a little one for my daughter, and to not forget just what Christmas really was about. I felt so ashamed as I realized that God had given me a husband I cherished and a daughter I adored.

On Christmas Eve, I turned on the tree lights and our daughters eyes shone with glee and amazement. I still felt bad but she made me feel hopeful. Suddenly there was a knock on the door and I held my breath afraid to answer. After a few more knocks, I finally summoned the courage to answer. I opened the door and there was someone dressed as Santa. In front of his face was a big bouquet of flowers and what looked like dozens of balloons. “HO HO HO”, he said, “I heard that someone here could use a little cheering up.” Just as I admit I was ready to close the door on the person, the flowers came down and there was the most beautiful face I had ever seen. My husband, my best friend and the love of my life. He had been discharged early due to a non life threatening injury. All the other family knew, but he asked them to keep it quiet so he could surprise me. We took each others hand and I introduced him to his daughter. They fell in love with each other.

That was almost 30 years, five children, two daughters in law, one son in law, and one granddaughter ago. I will never forget that night of miracles and the Lord who gave me a gift on his birthday.

Submitted November 2000