Of all the Christmas presents I have gotten thru the years, there are a few that have been exceptional. My first BB Gun(which I still have and still works) when I was 6. The first real bicycle,a 3 speed from Western Auto (Yeah I AM that old) and the story below...
I have been fortunate all my life to have such a big and loving family. Every year on Christmas eve we would gather at the house of a Aunt or Cousin and eat yet another feast of a meal before exchanging gifts. When I was younger, the cousins and I would anxiously watch as the meteorologist tracked Santa s every move and we knew when to hurry home because Santa was on his way...
Anyway, fast-forward 15 years or so.. I was working for a local furniture Company(it was the 90's, most everyone was in furniture here) and it was Christmas holiday.
Being a truck driver, I knew a lot of people at all the plants because I came in contact with them everyday . That being said, I may not have known them well, just by face or name. Then there are the ones that just stand out in the crowd. This story is about one of those.
Dianne Pugh or Lady Di as most called her (after Princess Di) was always a bundle of joy and a Ray of sunshine in one package. She always had a smile on her face and was always laughing. I'm not sure what her job was exactly but if it was moral support she was perfect for it.. She had a way of bringing joy into a room.
What I and many of us around her did not know was that under that happy shell was a single mom struggling to survive and provide for her son.. None of us were getting rich in furniture and I'm sure she was on a very tight budget.
All that to get to this, before we got out of work, she asked if I had plans for Christmas eve and if knew anything about a trampoline. Apparently, she had managed to scrimp and save and bought one for her son's Christmas. I told her I knew nothing about them but I would drop by after our meal..
So about 10:00 I show up at her house. There is a small gathering of friends, some I recognize from work, some I don't know. Anyway, the son is about 9 or 10 and had just went to bed anxiously awaiting a visit from Santa.
She makes sure he is asleep and about 5 of us sneak out the back door to start this adventure in Trampoline assembly.
We open the box and the instructions have lots of pictures, (before everything was made in Chi-ONE) so the frame goes together well. We are starting to notice that metal parts are hard to handle when its 30 degrees or so. Forgot my gloves too.. Dang it! Anyway we start to stretch the springs. The second thing we notice is brand new springs don't stretch well in the cold either. But we push and pull on till we get about a third of the way around and realize we can't stretch the springs on the other side enough to reach the mat. So we take it back apart and start them even all the way around the frame.. Much better EXCEPT, it's dark and we got out of alignment and had to UNDO about another third of the springs to move them over a notch or two.. Finally!!
Half frozen, we head back inside to warm our frozen paws. I hung around awhile to listen to funny stories and conversations till after midnight and headed home feeling pretty good about my good deed knowing there was gonna be one happy little boy when his present doesn't fit under the tree in the morning.
This is where the story might end except, this is where it really starts.
We came back from Christmas vacation and it is business as usual at the factory. Everyone is telling war stories of their in-laws and out-laws but pretty much a normal day..
Then I see Lady Di.. She walked up to me, grabbed me in a bear-hug that would make any WWE wrestler envious and proceeded to start telling me how much it meant to her and how surprised her son was that SANTA had brought him a Trampoline! The more she talked the more her voice crackled and with tears flowing like twin rivers down her cheeks, a woman I barely knew was pouring out her heart like it was in a 55 gal barrel. Let me tell ya, when a woman has you in a hug that can cut off your breathing and tries to tell you thank you and she loves you at the same time, YOU BELIEVE it! I wasn't solely responsible for making it happen but apparently she thought I orchestrated the event and it happened because of me.I didn't deserve all the credit , but I wasn't about to try and tell her that . She seemed convinced I was the key that tuned the lock so I'm ok with that.
Ever-since then, I cannot pass a trampoline or does a Christmas eve go by I don't think of that night. It only cost me a few hours of being in the cold , but it turned out to be the best present I ever got. It is better to give than receive.When you realize you helped make a difference in someones life, it gives you a warm feeling that doesn't go away quickly.
I hope this holiday season, you all will take time from our busy schedules to give to those less fortunate. You wont regret it!! RIP Lady Di!! http://www.wattsleft.com/locksoflove
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