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5 True, Old-Fashioned Christmas Miracles 31

5 True, Old-Fashioned

Christmas Miracles That

Will Restore Your Hope

for The Holidays

These true stories from readers like you
prove that a well-timed letter, a handful
of pennies, or a single gust of wind can
make an ordinary Christmas a
cherished memory.

The Mail Train’s Gift: A Life-Changing
Message

My mother told me this story from World War I
many years ago. Christmas 1917 was coming,
but because her brother Archie Clikeman was
missing in action and presumed dead, the family
was not going to celebrate.
windows. plaza.
The townspeople of Parker, South
Santa poked his head through a window The streets were streaming with aimless
Dakota, always joked that the small-town
and said to our kids, “Oh, there you are! I was servicemen, all missing the joy and solace of
postmaster read all the postcards whenever the
wondering where I’d find you tonight.” being home for Christmas.
mail train came into town. On that Christmas
Naturally, the kids were thrilled to We began singing familiar Christmas
Eve, he lived up to his reputation.
The family was always grateful that the pieces. They made sure we told Santa which songs, and in a short time, the volume increased
motel we were staying at so he could find them. markedly. I climbed up onto the rim of the
postmaster, instead of waiting for the rural mail
My wife and I had tucked away gifts for the trip, fountain to an astonishing sight—a sea of
to go out the day after Christmas, called my
as we knew we wouldn’t have time to shop servicemen on the plaza singing with all their
grandmother and told her that Archie was being
along the way. hearts. When a song ended, I started another,
held as a prisoner of war. Archie even wrote on
The cartop carrier and out-of-state just beginning the words, and it was
the postcard that he was well.
license plate might have been a giveaway, but immediately picked up.
Of course, my mother said, that turned
whatever it was, that Santa really made We sang every traditional song I could
out to be the best Christmas ever. Archie came
Christmas 1961 a memorable one for our kids. think of and didn’t leave the servicemen until
home after the war and lived to a ripe old age.
— Dave Grinstead, Bellingham, Washington near midnight, carrying a beautiful memory
— Kay Johnson, Parker, South Dakota
with us. — Winnie Phillips Stark, Modesto,
Fate Threw a Tree at Us California
Our Pennies Made All the Difference
During the hustle and bustle of Christmastime The First 23-Week Preemie to Survive in
Many years ago, when I was making 75 cents an
1958, we told our children, ages 3 and 4, about More Than A Decade
hour, my three children asked for bicycles for
the beautiful Christmas tree we would have in a
Christmas, but I couldn’t afford them.
few days. On Christmas Eve, at the bakery we A few years ago, we wrote of the miraculous
So that January, I put three bikes on
had recently purchased, we counted the receipts, survival of a baby born at 26 weeks. This year
layaway. I paid all through the year, but a week
cleaned the shop and headed for home with our we have Samuel Rodriguez, born in April at just
before Christmas, I still owed $14.50. The
two sleepy children. 23 weeks and three days, the result of a
Saturday before Christmas, my son Ricky asked
Suddenly, we remembered we had not spontaneous placental abruption (separation of
how much I needed. When I told him, he asked
gotten a tree. We looked for a vendor who might the placenta from the uterus). All Samuel's
if he could pour the pennies out of the penny jug
have a tree left, to no avail. mom, Jennifer Freseda of Tioga Texas,
we kept.
About a mile from home, we stopped for remembers is waking up to labor pains and
I said, “Son, I don’t care, but I know
a red light. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew, and rushing to the hospital (Medical City, Plano),
there’s not $14.50 worth of pennies in there.”
something hit the front of our truck. My where she learned her baby's sole chance of
Ricky poured them out, counted them,
husband went out to investigate. survival was emergency C-section (these are the
and said, “Mom, there’s $15.50 worth of
The next thing I knew, my husband was myths and facts about C-sections you should
pennies.” Ecstatic, I told him to count out $1 for
throwing a good-sized evergreen into the back know about). Sam actually took a breath upon
gas so I could go get the bikes.
of the truck. He went into the mom-and-pop emerging, but doctors immediately intubated
I’ve always thought of this as our little
store at the corner where we were and asked the and rushed him to the Neonatal Intensive Care
miracle. It was as blessed a Christmas as anyone
proprietor how much he wanted for the tree. He Unit (NICU). When Jennifer and her husband
could ever have. — Dot Williams, Canton,
said he wasn’t selling Christmas trees that year. were finally allowed to see their baby, Jennifer
Georgia
We never did find out how the tree got in nearly collapsed from the shock. "He was the
the middle of the road, but somehow we feel we tiniest thing, hooked up to all these wires. I was
Santa Found Us on the Road
know. Incidentally, it was the most beautiful frightened and powerless."
tree we have ever had. — Gertrude Albert, Samuel spent four months in NICU,
At Christmastime, in 1961, our family was on
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania during which he had two surgeries, including
the way from Seattle to a new assignment on the
surgery to correct a heart abnormality. On
East Coast, and we checked into a motel in
Our Carols Hit the Right Ears August 9, the day before his actual due date,
Watertown, South Dakota. It was not the best
Samuel was discharged from the hospital, a
time to travel with young children, who were
I was with a small group of young guys and gals healthy baby boy, albeit with an apnea monitor
concerned about Santa finding us on the road.
caroling on Christmas Eve, in 1942 San Diego, and supplemental oxygen. "I didn't even know
We headed into town to find a store, and
California. We wandered downtown to babies so small could survive," Jennifer
as our car approached an intersection, there was
Broadway, the main street, and stopped at a marvels.[]
a Santa right in the crosswalk! He held up his
block of green grass with a fountain on the
hand for us to stop, and we rolled down our