Santa Clause is Coming
David’s grandmother wanted to take him and his big sister, Becky to see Santa Clause at the County Fair Grounds. People from all over the County and neighboring Counties would be going. Many people were going early to make sure they had a good view. The local Radio Stations had already announced that Santa Clause would be arriving by Helicopter instead of his usual Reindeer and Sled. Grandma was determined that Santa’s visit was going to be a very special event for her two grandchildren, and she wanted to always be remembered as the person that took them. David was especially excited about the helicopter and his grandmother was just as excited! Unfortunately, none of the other adults in the family shared Grandma’s excitement.
Grandma did not drive and just getting there would be a problem for her without help. Grandpa had to work, and David’s Dad had something planned. She kept insisting she wanted to go, until David’s Dad agreed he would drop them off and pick them up at a designated time and drop-off spot. All the adults continued to warn Grandma it would be very crowded. She knew it would be worth it and she was annoyed they were not seeing that the benefits outweighed dealing with the crowd. Grandma could be very stubborn when she wanted something badly enough.
Grandma enlisted David’s mom to help in getting the two children cleaned up enough to take them out in public and to take really nice pictures. She was going to bring her camera with a full roll of film in it. Becky was in First Grade, and she was beginning to suspect that Santa Clause might not be as real and wonderful as her mom said he was. She even suspected that Santa might be a person dressed up in a costume and that sneaky person was lying to all of the children about being the real Santa. When it was time to get dressed for pictures with Santa, she was dragging her feet. She had decided she did not want to go, even though she knew she did not have a choice. She had heard the adult conversations, and she knew even though all of the other adults thought it was a bad idea, Grandma was still taking her grandchildren to see Santa.
Grandma Rules
Grandma had a special way of pouring on the guilt. She had reminded everyone that not only was David at the perfect age and would not be little for long, but she was getting old. Who knew how much longer she would be able to do something like this with her only grandson? David was so thrilled at the idea of seeing a real helicopter as well as Santa. Who would want to deny David the chance to see a real helicopter?
David’s mother and aunt started working on dinner as Grandma and the two children piled into the dirty black car. David’s dad dropped them off at a walkway in the Fair Ground. He insisted that Grandma confirm they would be picked up at this same spot in two hours. This would give them plenty of time to walk to the spot where they would see Santa and see his arrival in the helicopter. David’s dad pointed out it was already getting very crowded, and it would have been impossible to find a good parking spot.
After asking one last time if she was sure that she wanted to do this, David’s dad drove off in a cloud of County Fair Dust. He did not like leaving his small children with the old woman. He had a bad feeling about this and made a mental note that the old woman was wearing a dark blue dress and carrying a large black pocketbook. He had learned after being married to his wife for seven years that he could not win an argument with these women. He often joked that once his wife got an ideal in her head it was there to stay. He often told people that even a stick of dynamite could not blow an idea out of his wife’s mind. His wife was just like her mother, very stubborn.
Grandma’s Plan
Grandma told David they would all need to walk a little bit to get close enough to see the helicopter bring Santa. David jumped for joy. He was so excited to see the helicopter and Santa. To keep the little boy safe, Grandma held onto one of his hands and she had his sister hold onto the other hand. They walked for a while and stopped for a moment to rest. David was tired and Grandma was too old to carry him. After she explained to him that they would need to walk a little closer if he wanted to see the helicopter, he regained his energy and started walking again. Grandma pointed out the TV News Trucks that had come all the way from Atlanta to see Santa. This helped David walk even further.
The Lost Child
Suddenly in the distance David heard the helicopter coming. Everyone around them started rushing to get closer. The helicopter went over their heads. One of the adults rushing around them bumped into the children and David felt his sister’s hand being pulled out of his. He screamed as loud as he could. He refused to go another step forward. David and his grandmother were surrounded by tall pushy people. He cried and screamed as loud as he could and many of the people tried to move away from the hysterical child. His grandmother noticed his sister was missing as the little boy tried to say his sister’s name. The grandmother started calling out for the little girl and telling people rushing past that she had lost a little girl. David and the grandmother continued to call for the little girl. David cried even louder when he could not hear his sister’s voice. He was sure she was lost forever, and he would never see her again. He remembered how it felt to feel her hand being pulled out of his hand and this thought made him cry bitterly. He was afraid someone hurt her and made her fall down.
Unexpected Reactions
Just as quickly as he had lost his sister, there she was walking towards them, safe and sound. He hugged her as hard as he could and cried because he was so happy that he found her. The grandmother immediately chastised the little girl for getting herself lost. She started telling the calm little girl a horror story about children getting lost and never finding their family ever again. David’s happiness was crushed by the grandmother’s anger and her horror story made him scream as loud as he could. He hugged his sister again. His grandmother’s words had wounded him even deeper than his own imagination had done. His grandmother had just confirmed that his worst thought and fear was a real possibility. He could not calm down.
A Child’s Understanding
Becky did not understand why David was crying and hugging her. She was the one that was lost, and he had always been safe. She asked, “Why is he crying?” She thought perhaps someone had hurt him when the crowd started pushing them. The grandmother explained that he was afraid because he did not want to lose his sister, that he was afraid for his sister. Becky did not understand David’s pain. She was too focused on her grandmother’s anger towards her. Grandma was obviously not happy the little girl was safe and no longer lost. Instead, the grandmother was angry, and Becky did not understand why. Then she thought, “she doesn’t love me.” Becky knew her grandfather loved her and now she knew her grandmother did NOT love her!
Things Go Unsaid
Becky was so angry at her grandmother for yelling at her that she could only glare back at her and think, “I hope she gets in a lot of trouble with my grandpa and my parents!” Becky remembered how everyone had told grandma it would be difficult for her to keep up with two small children in the large crowd. Becky was old enough to know that even though grandma was trying to blame her, that the adults would be blaming her instead. This thought made Becky very happy, but she could not smile, she was still too angry at grandma.
Grandma, David and Becky had to wait awhile for their father’s car to pick them up. Grandma eventually saw the car and the three started walking closer towards the slow-moving car. David was exhausted from all of the walking and crying. David was quick to tell his dad that Becky had gotten lost as he squirmed into the backseat of the old car with his sister. Becky said nothing as she glared at her grandmother. Their grandmother said, “Let’s not talk about it right now and upset David.” The ride home was much quieter than the ride to the Fair Grounds. The children’s father knew lecturing the old woman would do no good. Instead, he focused on the slow-moving traffic and sighed in relief when he got onto the highway.
David and his sister went to watch TV after returning to their Grandma’s House. Becky pretended to watch TV and listened as best she could while Grandma got into trouble with Grandpa once he heard the story. Everyone agreed that Grandma would never take the children anywhere alone again. Becky was very happy that Grandma had gotten into trouble. She did not understand why David was so upset. Becky thought her grandmother was a terrible grandmother and that she was to blame for everything. Like the rest of the family, the children never talked about their trip to see Santa arrive by helicopter at the crowded County Fair Grounds.
The Gift of Psalm 23
Jesus amazes me! I remember another event that happened when I was in First Grade. This same grandmother in this story that I thought so poorly of is the one that had me memorize Psalm 23. I saw her going into a room to be alone with her Bible to pray. I didn’t see her do it much, but that day it mattered for me. She came out and had a strange worried look on her face. She told me I had to memorize Psalm 23. She showed me which one it was and ask me if I could read well enough to do that. She said, ” you better learn it, because I think someday, you’re going to need it.” I could see on her face that she was speaking the truth. She was right.
After I became a Christian, I thanked God for having Grandma give me Psalm 23. God helped me understand that all people are flawed. Some have a hard time following Jesus and are too self-focused. Even though I held a lot of things against my grandmother, I was glad that God allowed her to give me Psalm 23. I found it a lot easier to forgive her for her many flaws and I could even heal after noticing I have some of her same flaws. In this memory, I see how even I was guilty of being self-focused and did not understand David’s fear and pain. My grandmother being the one to give me Psalm 23 also said to me, if God can use her, does that mean He could use even me? After all, she was not anymore perfect than I am, and He used her to bless me.
© Rebecca 2024, GrandmaCanLearn.com Blog, All Rights Reserved.
Lord God Almighty, sanctify us in Your holiness in the name of Christ Jesus. Be glorified for who You are and what You do within us and through us as You heal our memories. Amen.
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