A CHRISTMAS TO REMEMBER
Maria looked at her stark surroundings a basement room in a college dormitory, one door no windows, a stark white floor and stark white walls, twin bunk beds and a lone ceiling light. Clutching a letter from home, she remembered Christmases past and a tear fell. Most of the other girls had gone home for the holiday. The few who remained would go home that day, and she would be alone. Home was so far away. Too expensive to go for a ten day vacation. Too far to go and turn around.
Recalling the warmth and the bustle of her faraway home, tears began to flow. She remembered fruitcakes and pound cakes, the large Christmas tree laden with ornaments, the gifts piled high beneath the tree, the guest that came and went. Her mind went back to the large white house where she had lived all her life, and strong northwestern winds that at Christmas time whirled around its corners and danced under its eaves and she cried loud hiccuping sobs. A knock at the door went unnoticed. One of the girls, who had not yet gone home, heard the loud sobbing and came to comfort, but Maria would not be consoled.
The housemother came to see what she could do, and then Maria blurted her story. "Mary Ellen, her friend, had invited her to spend the week. She had said, No, because other friends had already invited her. At the last moment they had canceled. Mrs Clark, the house mother, quickly made up her mind, "She would call Mary Ellen's mother, whose invitation, Maria had turned down, perhaps, they could still have Maria for Christmas."
A quick phone call and Mary Ellen's mother answered, "Of course we would be delighted to have Maria for Christmas. The decision was made, "Mrs. Clark would drive, Maria, sixty miles to Los Angeles, where Mary Ellen and her family lived. Mary Ellen would meet them at a drop off point near her home."
Maria quickly packed her bags. Clutching her luggage, the letter from home and the ten dollar bill, she entered the car and the long drive to the city began. One hour later, when they arrived at the designated spot, Mary Ellen was standing beside her car waiting for them. Grappling with her luggage, the letter, and the ten dollar bill, Maria excitedly hugged her friend, Mary Ellen, and in her excitement, unwittingly, dropped the letter and the ten dollar bill.