Christmas Spirit 2010

I considered writing the following true story as a Christmas letter that I would have included with my Christmas cards this year, but a friend talked me out of it. It sounds a little more like fiction than fact. It still does, but because the encounter was directly responsible for me discovering and keeping the Christmas Spirit all through the month of December, I decided not to keep it to myself.

Here it is, how I found the Christmas Spirit in 2010. Actually, it found me -- in the most unlikely of places -- and at the most unlikely of times.

December 3, 2010. Driving south on I-57, I stopped at the Effingham BP station. It was a bitterly cold morning and was at just 11 degrees at 7:30 am. Pumping gas never goes fast enough in weather like that, and my impatience grew as it does when a trip to the ladies room becomes necessary. I saw her while crossing the parking lot -- a short, round granny dressed in a bright pink hand-knit (it had to be hand-knit) sweater. She didn't so much walk as waddle, and I knew that I was still too far from the door to beat her inside. I quickened my pace and hoped that she'd go left as she entered thus leading her away from the narrow corridor on the right that led to the lavatory.

Trust me, you never want to get stuck behind a waddling old lady on her way to the lavatory -- time stands still and you could read Tolstoy in the space between. But there I was. She correctly moved right and turned to the narrow hallway just as I hit the door. NO hope of passing her in this hallway, and my pressing need no longer relevant. She moved with the grace of a sea turtle in wet sand, and my thoughts grew less and less pleasant as I followed in slow motion. Under different circumstances, I might have appreciated the Six Million Dollar Man motion and added the appropriate sound effects -- that morning, I couldn't find a kind or humorous thought.

We reached the door and she finally noticed my presence.
"It's a bit brisk out there isn't it?" she asked.
"Yes, ma'am, winter's here to stay," I managed.
As she opened the door, she floored me.
"Well, this is my favorite time of the year -- Merry Christmas to you and your family, honey."

I hesitated. I hadn't held a kind thought toward this granny since the second I saw her, and here she was wishing me a Merry Christmas. All that stuff that happened to the Grinch happened to me in a heartbeat, and I smiled. I wished her a Merry Christmas back and meant it, and we entered the line inside the very full lavatory.

Who would have thought that my Christmas angel would have arrived in shocking pink! Once back in the car, I switched to the stations playing nothing but Christmas music and had a wonderful trip.