Yes, it was one of those sappy seasonal stories that required a box of Kleenex, which means, of course, I loved it. By coincidence, my parents also had a "Christmas Shoes" story to tell as their part of our family Christmas program this weekend.
We were entertained with some funny songs by the "Three Wise Queens" and the "12 Days of Christmas" (acted out by some surprisingly willing participants, a.k.a. nephews). Since it was the fifth day of Christmas, my brother also shared his interpretation of the symbolism of the five golden rings. We heard some singing and the reading of the Christmas story. My oldest sister read some Christmas poems she received 25 years ago while living in California (did you know I was a writer even back then?). My guys and I performed a skit about special gifts we'd like to give each family member -- if we were actually Santa and Mrs. Claus.
My parents concluded the program, sharing the story of each of our births (like how much we weighed and comments from the doctor, family members and friends), then hanging a pair of our baby shoes on a "tree." For each of my three siblings and one nephew who died shortly after their births, Mom and Dad hung an angel. They told us how we've all taken a lot of steps through life and left footprints on their hearts. Although I couldn't see through the blur of my tears, I am sure there wasn't a dry eye in the room.After the program, Mom and Dad offered to let each of us kids take our pair of baby shoes home with us. But I noticed at the end of the night that none of us wanted to disturb that tree. We just couldn't bear to leave those precious angels by themselves ... for they have left a footprint on our hearts, too.
Posts
1 comment:
Thank you Loving Sister for sharing that beautiful story. I couldn't say for sure myself about if there was a dry eye in the house 'cuz I couldn't see much either. I believe it was a very important message. To those of us whom knew the story of our siblings and nephew to those grandkids whom didn't know. It was very touching. thanks.
Post a Comment