CHRISTMAS in the HEART ( excerpts ) by Rachel Field (1894-1942)
"At last we gathered in the parlour and another scuttle of coal went into the big stove.
The time had come for decorating teh tree, and everyone took a hand in it...
Mr. Johnson had made birds out of pine cones, and there were cranberries in long strings as read as the popcorn was white.
There were hearts and crescents of tinfoil and balls made out of bright bits of worsted. But there was no star anywhere..
No Christmas tree could be complete without a star to light its tip.
In that big house there was not one cake baked or one bit of green hung on any door, was the story of the night, from the elderly relative, Christine. At home we were poor, but we put out grain for the birds and candles to light and songs to sing.
Each night she cried as the holiday drew near. She thought of her mother and brothers and sisters all together in a house that was small but savoury with holiday cooking.
She thought of the little church on Christmas Eve, with its lighted windows, and the graves outside, each with a torch set there to burn through the long hours.
Her mother told her that even the dead should join the living on that Holy Night.
She thought about taking her own candle out there to burn and say a prayer and sing a carol.
The thought of it made her feel better. She would hum a Christmas song and go back to her work, in those early days.
Chrisitine, old now, telling her story for the familyt, smiled. She was tired. Her voice dwindled.
The day of miracles is not past, she said
She had lived in that great house as a daughter.
She no longer served as a maid in that great house.
"And see, here is the star to hang on the tree...." she said to the present company.
A brooch with diamonds and five shining points.
We watched it send out little jets of brightness when the candles were lighted below and all the old faces shining in the loveliest of lights.
We sang another carol all together and then it was time to go home......
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