The Christmas Wish

Shawna was thirteen, overweight, and precocious, but she had a sweet heart and only one wish for Christmas. Shawna wanted a family. The oldest child in her foster home and the only African American made the odds of her being adopted by Christmas pretty slim. But that didn’t stop her from wishing it, even if it was the same wish year after year.

This year was going to be different, Shawna told herself; this year, the TV station was spotlighting her so that all the viewers could see what a great addition she would make to any family. Her foster mom had found a pretty red dress with a black sweater, black tights and black Mary Jane shoes with flat heels. At five foot two, she was already full size but she didn’t want to appear older than she was. She’d never get adopted that way, she was told.

The day came for her to be interviewed by the nice lady who anchored the news for the local TV station. She was pretty and smiled a lot and asked Shawna lots of questions. And while they walked around the Mall during the interview a camera followed them around. She asked and Shawna answered, but Shawn couldn’t remember what she asked later and when the actual interview was on TV, Shawna became embarrassed and walked out of the living room at her foster home.

Eleanor was sitting on the couch in the den watching her two children as they attempted to decorate the Christmas tree. She had managed to drag the box with the artificial tree down from the attic, and then she had stood it up in the corner of the den in front of the window as her children insisted. It was a beautiful tree at almost seven feet tall, and the fact that it came with the lights made decorating it that much easier. Carrying the box with all the ornaments had been harder for Eleanor as it was bulky and most of the ornaments were breakable. However, once the box was down the stairs her children eagerly began decorating the tree. Their goal was to get it done as fast as possible before their mother changed her mind as she had done the past three years.

The twins were nine years old; Jeremy and Janice. Handsome and beautiful children, both had blond hair and blue eyes, like their mother, Eleanor. They attended public school and enjoyed sharing the same fourth grade class at the school down the road. Now that they were on Christmas break, the twins spent all their time together and although writing a letter to Santa seemed a bit immature for nine year olds, their teacher had used it as a writing exercise the last day of school asking his students to write a paper describing one Christmas wish. Later the twins shared their letters with each other and realized that their Christmas wishes were the same – to be a family again.

After her children had gone to bed, Eleanor fixed herself a cup of hot tea and continued to sit on the couch staring at the twinkling lights. As she did her mind wandered to years past and other Christmas trees in her home when life was good and her family was whole. She saw her husband John kneeling on the floor holding the fresh fir tree trying to steady it while Eleanor directed him to lean it this way or that way. In the end it was always crooked but always perfect. And she could see their beautiful daughter Emily standing on the step stool placing the angel on the top of the tree. The oldest of their three children, it was Emily’s job to place the angel they had gotten when she was born on Christmas Day thirteen years ago.

And then Eleanor’s mind wandered to the present day and she focused her eyes searching for John and Emily. Expecting them to walk through the door just in from the store, it still took Eleanor by surprise when she realized this was not going to happen. Then she remembered over and over that horrible day when a drunk driver ran through a stop sign and crashed into John’s car killing both him and Emily who had insisted she go with her father to the store.

Shawna had thrown herself on her bed in the room she shared with two other girls and was crying her heart out when her foster mom came into the room. Putting her hand on Shawna’s back, she rubbed her gently comforting the young girl. Shawna knew that the things she said during the interview would make people laugh at her; that they would see her as crazy for thinking someone could love her or would want her as part of their family. Had she actually said she wanted a single mom? Did she really want a brother and sister? And did she say she wanted to be a lawyer when she grew up because she liked to argue? She didn’t mean to say these things; they just came out when the nice lady interviewed her. But Shawna knew the truth. Who would want to adopt a thirteen year old black girl whose mother died of a drug overdose and whose father got drunk for the hundredth time and killed a man and his little girl?

Christmas Eve morning arrived. The twins came downstairs and found their mother asleep on the couch in the den. Most of the time their mother was fairly normal acting, but each year at this time of year she fell into a depression that they could do nothing to help her but tiptoe around her and stay to themselves. There were no presents under the tree which was not a surprise to the twins. Santa would come as he did each year even after the accident three years ago, and their grandparents would drive in from the country and bring gifts, but there were no presents from their mother. Jeremy and Janice looked at the beautiful tree and especially the angel on top and saw that it was glowing like a bright light bulb.

Eleanor heard the children come down the stairs and sat up stretching her arms high above her head. She had not meant to fall asleep on the couch again, but feeling the loss of her husband was more than she could bear. So she remained on the couch where she could bury her sadness under the crocheted afghan her mother had made her when she was a child. Eleanor looked at her precious twins and saw their faces glowing, a reflection of the light coming from the tree she thought. And then she looked at the tree, and she too saw the angel on top shining brightly. Made of straw and calico cotton, and without electric power, the angel’s glow was shining from within radiating out into the room.

Then the angel spoke to them saying, “Your family is whole; your Christmas wishes are granted.” And suddenly the glow from the angel spread throughout the room filling it with a brilliant blue and yellow light swirling and swirling around the family of three. And when the light went out, Eleanor found that she was holding her children in her arms clinging to them. And even odder, the television set was on. Eleanor didn’t remember turning the set on or leaving it on the night before. The three of them turned toward the TV set and saw a beautiful young girl being interviewed and making her Christmas wish to have a family. She was thirteen, talented, funny, and a good student. She was well-liked by her friends and respected by her teachers. She wanted a single mom and a brother and sister for Christmas – a family who would love her as she loved them back. Eleanor looked at her children and they looked at their mother whose eyes were twinkling with happiness along with her pink cheeks and a smile on her beautiful lips. And she said to her children, “Let’s go bring Shawna home.” To which they responded, “Let’s go be a family!”



Merry Christmas from the Shartle family: