Page 28 - LIfesOuttakes5

I thanked him, and then he did something I didn’t expect. He smiled and chuckled slightly. “You should have seen your face when I shown my flashlight on you. You’ve probably heard lots of scary stories about me, haven’t you?” I didn’t know what to say, so I just shrugged and nodded as he continued. “Did you know I had a little girl once?” I told him I didn’t really know much about him. He shared with me how, one Christmas, his little girl had also wanted a wagon he couldn’t afford, so he bought some lumber and made one. Tears welled up in his eyes as he finished. “The next year we lost her to the measles. She died on Christmas Day.” Suddenly, I understood more about this old man than most of the community ever knew, and I realized why he despised Christmas. We talked quite a while, and when I turned to leave, he asked me to wait. He retrieved an old ribbon and handed it to me. “Tell your little girls Santa sent it.” He then smiled brightly. “Merry Christmas.” 22