The year was 1956 and times were tough. People didn’t have the money they have today for buying gifts for their family, friends and loved ones. The people in our neighbourhood barely had enough money to put food on the table and clothes on their children. Gifts were an extra burden. My father was a house painter and very seldom got any work after September. My mother started going out to work cleaning peoples’ homes for $3 a day, which was the going rate at the time. My mother would work from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. five days a week for a total of $15 a week. As Christmas approached Mom would go down to Woolworths and put a few things on the lay-away plan for her family and paid a little each week when she got her $15 on Fridays. That was the only way many of the people in our neighbourhood could afford to buy gifts at that time. Christmas Eve came and Mom had to go to work as usual. We didn’t have a Christmas tree and I overheard Mom and Dad discussing how were they ever going to get the money to buy one, they were so broke. There were four of us children in the family and we didn’t understand anything only that Santa brought you gifts. We were asking, “When are we getting our tree”? and Mom would say that maybe we wouldn’t have a tree this year. We were very sad, but didn’t say anything. In those days people would come to town from the country with trees on their wagons or trucks and go door to door selling them for $1 each. At the end of the day when it was dark and everyone was at home with their families, there wouldn’t be any sales for the trees, so the people selling them would just put them along the side of the road and head on home. My brothers and I decided that we would go out looking around the streets after supper to see if we could find a tree, but nothing was to be found. We came home very downhearted. At a time when we should have been overjoyed at the coming of Santa, we had no tree for him to put our gifts under. We were sure that without a tree Santa wouldn’t leave us anything. When my mother came home from work that evening she was so very tired and really sad. It was written all over her face. She had tried so hard to make a wonderful Christmas but the main thing that represented Christmas to children, the tree, was missing. We went to bed that night asking each other if we thought that Santa would come even if we didn’t have a tree. Christmas morning came and we all rushed downstairs to see if Santa had come. We were so surprised when we opened the door to our living room and there stood a beautiful tree with our gifts underneath. We were overjoyed. The lights from the tree put a magical glow to the room and there seemed to be a feeling of peace. I looked over at Mom and saw a smile on her face, something that I hadn’t seen for a long time. Several years later Mom and I were talking about special people that come into your life and make a difference and Mom told me a story. She said that the woman she had worked for on Christmas Eve had a beautiful tree in her large living room. It was filled underneath with brightly wrapped gifts. It was a scene right out of Curry and Ives. She asked Mom if she had her tree up and dressed, and Mom said that we wouldn’t be having a tree this year because she didn’t have the money to buy one. Later that evening around 10:00 p.m. Mom said there was a knock on the door. Dad opened the door and in walked Mrs. Brown, Mom’s employer that day, carrying a large Christmas tree. She told Mom that she had bought her tree earlier in the day and had decorated it as a surprise for her husband when he returned from work. Well, when he walked into the house that evening, he was carrying a tree he had bought on his way home as a surprise for her. She wanted to know if Mom would do her a favour and take this tree and use it. This would mean a great deal to her. Mom said she didn’t know what to say. Mrs. Brown had a smile on her face and there seemed to be a twinkle in her eye. Mom thanked Mrs. Brown and she was on her way. The next morning Dad opened the kitchen door to the porch to shovel the snow from the steps and found six parcels with our names on them. Mrs. Brown had bought a gift for each of us and had left them as a surprise. The love and generosity of Mrs. Brown towards our family, at a time when we didn’t have very much, was a sign of love and caring. When it comes right down to it, isn’t love the greatest gift of all?   Submitted By: NULL