This is a bit of a long story so please bare with me.
We moved from the Midwest when I was three. It was our second Christmas Eve in New England and we were allowed to open one gift which was always church clothes from our distant grandmother. This year happened to be a particularly itchy sweater. Since the family was getting ready for the Christmas Eve Service* there was nothing to do but stare out the window watching the snowflakes fall and itching in my sweater. Yes, these were the days when the black and white television would hiss "snow" after midnight, there were only four (VHF) stations, and one had to get up off the couch to "turn the channel."
There was no On Demand video, play station, mobile-device noise to interfere with watching the snowflakes fall while the free Christmas Album from Firestone Tires crackled away with Perry Como's "There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays." And, (GASP) I wasn't even bored listening to adult Christmas music. The only other sound in the living room was...a bell ringing. Quietly at first and very faint. I had to strain to hear it, "Ho...ho...ho...Merry Christmas." I put my nose up to the front window and sure enough through the night I could make out the shape of Santa Claus as he appeared through the snowflakes ringing a bell. As any four year-old would do, I yelled, "it's Santa... he's coming...it's Santa... he's here." And then I panicked. I wasn't in bed. In fact, we hadn't even gone to church. Would he come back later? Maybe he hadn't seen me.
Now any mom in her right mind that's trying to get children ready, set up the late night buffet and secretly decorate the tree after everyone is in bed would respond, "That's nice dear. Are you ready for church?" (My parents are from German decent so Santa brought presents and the Christmas tree too!)
When I realized she wasn't taking me seriously, I ran from the window to the kitchen in a panic. "Really, he's here. I'm not lying." She smiled and nodded. I ran to my two older sisters and told them that Santa was walking down the middle of our dead end street in a snow storm. They looked at each other and laughed.
I remember vividly the feeling of frustration that I wasn't being taken seriously, and I too began to question my four year-old mind. So, I returned to the living room and peered out the window. Now he was almost directly in front of our house and waved to me. Yes! He saw me and waved while he shouted over the wind, "Merry Christmas...Ho...ho...ho...." I waved back and I could see he had a red sack on his back. "It must be our toys," I whispered. He was walking so slowly. Maybe he was looking for our house. It was as if I was dreaming and he wanted others to see that my dream was real. Where's the sleigh? Reindeer? And Rudolph? Why was he walking? I had so many questions and so little time. I knew if I didn't get someone to believe me at that very moment he might not ever come back.
I found my dad and begged, "I'm not lying. Please, he's here and he's ringing a bell." I pleaded, "Santa just waved to me and now he'll be gone."
.....need to head off to the office....will continue at a later date. In the meantime, here's more information on the fake-meat-like-food-fungus-substance grown in a vat called Quorn:
Quorn Complaints - fungus grown in vats
Quorn - can create adverse reactions so severe it requires an emergency room visit or worse a hopsital stay? Never heard of it either...Quorn - a meat like substitute that's a fungus substance that's grown and harvested in vats. Hmmmmm sounds yummy.
If you suspect that you or a loved one has had an adverse reaction to Quorn, the Center for Science in the Public Interest wants to know: Quorn Adverse Reaction Form
p.s. If you're wondering why a four year-old is awake at midnight, our service started at 7:30PM.
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