Christmas In A Nutshell

Christmas In A Nutshell  

By Paul McCann

Every Christmas there were the people who went to church and those who sang Christmas carols . Them in the stores there were toys galore and Santa was there for anyone who wanted a photograph . The cinema had the latest Christmas movies and there were Christmas parties all over town for families and friends to enjoy .

Butchers and bakers were busy with their hams and turkeys on display and tins of shortbread and boxes of sweet mince pies . There were Christmas trees with lights and decorations in all the houses in town . It was the same thing every year , nothing ever changed just as it was for Alan Goodfellow who did his usual rounds on Christmas Eve . Each year Alan had a list of needy people in his village and on Christmas Eve he would anonymously leave some food hampers and an envelope with some money for the people who were doing it tough .

Alan wasn’t always wealthy . He came from a large family who struggled to survive They never had enough food to eat and clothes to wear but they were happy in their little home by the railway tracks . Alans father worked as a shunter and earned just enough money to pay the rent and electricity .  Although they were poor they were happy with the basic things in life . They never wanted for fancy clothes to wear or exotic foods to eat  . Alans parents never complained , they did their best and kept pretty much to themselves just doing the ordinary things every day .

Alan always remembered Christmas because there was always special treats and toys , Alans Mammy and Daddy never knew where they came from but somehow each Christmas there were parcels left outside their door .

Alan was always told it was Santa who brought them but as he grew into a young man his father told him he never knew who it was that left gifts at their door .So once a year they had chocolate and some sweets to eat and toys to play with ,

The real meaning of Christmas was all about an act of kindness that changed the way they lived for a short time . So when Alan became a parent he wanted to change the lives of others once a year by little acts of kindness . Even though he wasn’t wealthy he still had a charitable heart and wanted to do the same for others as someone had once done for him and his family . For him that was the real meaning at Christmas .

So because he knew what it was like to live in poverty he wanted to add a little extra magic to some peoples lives each Christmas . He did this in a simple way by buying some walnuts at Christmas and carefully breaking the shell in half and removing the nut and filling the space with , little notes that were written down on paper , with little clues on the whereabouts of their Christmas gifts .Alan would always have placed some gifts in pre arranged places around town so it was up to those who found the messages inside the walnuts to go and find them .

For many families it was an exciting way to spend Christmas , on a hunt to find the surprises that had been left for them .

Alan always knew his messages were being read as he did a check after Christmas was over to see if everyone had collected their gifts .

When Alan’s son was old enough to understand he took him along to see what he was doing in the hope that long after he was gone his children would continue the  tradition of bringing joy and happiness into other people’s lives . So each Christmas while many people were out doing some last minute shopping and Santa was in the stores having photographs taken , Alan was making a list of the family homes who would receive their special bag of Christmas Walnuts ,’

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The End