A Christmas story that must be told.
Bonjour mes amies.
I hope everyone enjoyed a blessed and safe holiday. To those whose families were held up by weather and other extenuating circumstances, take comfort in knowing that while holiday plans were skewed at least your loved ones are alive and well. Easy to say? 'Tis not a matter of saying but of getting past frustration and anger and looking at the broader spectrum. Certainly, most of us wish for family, home, and hearth at this particular time of year but lest you forget, control of every aspect of our lives 'tis not in our hands.
Who wouldn't like the prospect of smooth sailing in all that we want and do? But if you think about it mayhap you will realize that such a prospect is no more than a whimsical ideal. No one of us has had, or will ever have, ideal situations whenever we want them. Life is about change and uncertainty and how we handle those. One can lay blame for obstacles in our paths at the feet of the airlines or any other entity, person, place, or thing but that doesn't change the fact that a greater power than the lot of us, or any one of us, is in sole charge in the broad scheme of things.
While some of you sit around grumbling, griping, and threatening to take someone or something to task because your holiday didn't go as planned, there are others who have the common sense to take things in stride and be thankful for what they have. Still, there are others who had nothing to look forward to because they have no one to share time with and no food, shelter, or warm clothing; let alone the prospect of gifts and giving. And how sad is that when the rest of us have so much?
To be sure, some of you don't want to hear that because you are so caught up in self to care that skewed plans are but a miniscule matter in the scope of things. I bid you take care that your selfishness doesn't come home to roost. Aye, it is obvious I'm put out with the gripes and grumblings splashed across the television screen and I will tell you why. This past week a family of four children were brought to Dream Teller's attention by a colleague who inadvertently stumbled upon them and this is what he found.
Four brothers and sisters, ages four to eleven, abandoned and left to fend for themselves in a hovel that wasn't suitable for a pig STW. When our colleague happened upon the scene the three youngest were huddled together on a filthy piece of a blanket in a corner, trying to keep warm. Those children were too cold and hungry to be cautious of the stranger that entered their door, in fact, they showed no emotion at all when he went over to them. He described them as looking and acting like whipped pups who'd lost their will to survive. As he worked to get them talking he took off his coat and covered them. The oldest girl who is nine years old moved aside and tucked his coat around her two younger siblings; the four-year-old and the six-year-old then she looked up at him and told him that they needed it because they were 'little kids' and she'd be fine without it.
You can imagine (I would hope) that her gesture nearly broke his heart. He called her 'little mother' when he spoke to us. A nine-year-old girl caring for her siblings in those circumstances, at her own expense, is an image branded into my brain for all time. Little mother told him that their older brother was out looking for food for them to eat. When he questioned her about her parents whereabouts the child told him they had no mother and their daddy just didn't come home one day. She didn't know how long they'd been alone; just that it was "a long time".
That hovel was in the middle of nowhere and the child had no idea where the nearest town or person was. It was obvious to him that the child didn't go to school and equally obvious that no one even knew those children existed. As our colleague was on a covert mission he had no vehicle nearby and very little food on his person (a couple of candy bars and some gum) which he gave them while he gave some thought about how to handle the situation. He found some matches and as he was building a fire in the old fireplace he asked little mother why the older boy hadn't kept a fire going to keep them warm. She told him that they were saving the matches for when her brother caught something he could cook for them. Needless to say that wasn't often.
When the older boy returned and saw smoke curling from the chimney he rushed inside and was berating his sister for wasting matches before he realized the stranger was there. When he saw him he dropped the rabbit he'd trapped and rushed the stranger, fists flailing in his effort to protect his siblings. It took our colleague several minutes to subdue the boy enough to make him understand he was no threat but there to help them. Our colleague spent three days taking care of them until he was satisfied they were well enough to leave them there long enough to go for help. The immediate problem was that the older boy feared that if someone came for them, he and his siblings would be split up and there was the real possibility that if our colleague left them alone to go for help, the boy would take his brother and sisters and hide out in the woods. He knew that without shelter the children wouldn't survive a night in those woods so he gave the boy all the assurances he could that he would see to it that they remained together. It took some careful consideration to convince the boy to believe him and it pained him to tell the boy that without help the younger children would die.
Our colleague praised the child for his efforts then told him he'd done everything he could possibly do for his family and now it was time to let adults take over. That was when that stern-faced, proud little man became the exhausted little boy he really was and threw himself into our Warlock's arms and wept like a baby. The boy crawled under that big, warm coat with his siblings and our Warlock tucked them up tight, fed the fire, and with a heavy heart he left four little children alone to go for help.
I'm happy to say that when the Warlock returned several hours later with three of his colleagues in tow, the children were there waiting to be rescued. The men fed them a meal, dressed them in new clothes, coats, hats, and mittens and then each man carried a child away from that God-forsaken hovel and out of the woods to safety. By the time they all arrived in New Orleans, Dream Teller and some of her colleagues had networked by phone and internet and a warm home with a caring couple was waiting to give four little children a whole lot of love and a new life.
Every one of us involved in that rescue, even in the smallest way, were given a special gift this Christmas; that of knowing four little abandoned children had somehow managed to stay together and keep themselves alive until someone could get them to safety. Were it not for a greater power than we, they might not have been discovered in time. The Fates, God... Whatever deity you believe in, mayhap you should go to your knees and give thanks for all your blessings. Suddenly, skewed plans don't seem so big a deal do they? Blessed May You All Be, Kaithlin.
I hope everyone enjoyed a blessed and safe holiday. To those whose families were held up by weather and other extenuating circumstances, take comfort in knowing that while holiday plans were skewed at least your loved ones are alive and well. Easy to say? 'Tis not a matter of saying but of getting past frustration and anger and looking at the broader spectrum. Certainly, most of us wish for family, home, and hearth at this particular time of year but lest you forget, control of every aspect of our lives 'tis not in our hands.
Who wouldn't like the prospect of smooth sailing in all that we want and do? But if you think about it mayhap you will realize that such a prospect is no more than a whimsical ideal. No one of us has had, or will ever have, ideal situations whenever we want them. Life is about change and uncertainty and how we handle those. One can lay blame for obstacles in our paths at the feet of the airlines or any other entity, person, place, or thing but that doesn't change the fact that a greater power than the lot of us, or any one of us, is in sole charge in the broad scheme of things.
While some of you sit around grumbling, griping, and threatening to take someone or something to task because your holiday didn't go as planned, there are others who have the common sense to take things in stride and be thankful for what they have. Still, there are others who had nothing to look forward to because they have no one to share time with and no food, shelter, or warm clothing; let alone the prospect of gifts and giving. And how sad is that when the rest of us have so much?
To be sure, some of you don't want to hear that because you are so caught up in self to care that skewed plans are but a miniscule matter in the scope of things. I bid you take care that your selfishness doesn't come home to roost. Aye, it is obvious I'm put out with the gripes and grumblings splashed across the television screen and I will tell you why. This past week a family of four children were brought to Dream Teller's attention by a colleague who inadvertently stumbled upon them and this is what he found.
Four brothers and sisters, ages four to eleven, abandoned and left to fend for themselves in a hovel that wasn't suitable for a pig STW. When our colleague happened upon the scene the three youngest were huddled together on a filthy piece of a blanket in a corner, trying to keep warm. Those children were too cold and hungry to be cautious of the stranger that entered their door, in fact, they showed no emotion at all when he went over to them. He described them as looking and acting like whipped pups who'd lost their will to survive. As he worked to get them talking he took off his coat and covered them. The oldest girl who is nine years old moved aside and tucked his coat around her two younger siblings; the four-year-old and the six-year-old then she looked up at him and told him that they needed it because they were 'little kids' and she'd be fine without it.
You can imagine (I would hope) that her gesture nearly broke his heart. He called her 'little mother' when he spoke to us. A nine-year-old girl caring for her siblings in those circumstances, at her own expense, is an image branded into my brain for all time. Little mother told him that their older brother was out looking for food for them to eat. When he questioned her about her parents whereabouts the child told him they had no mother and their daddy just didn't come home one day. She didn't know how long they'd been alone; just that it was "a long time".
That hovel was in the middle of nowhere and the child had no idea where the nearest town or person was. It was obvious to him that the child didn't go to school and equally obvious that no one even knew those children existed. As our colleague was on a covert mission he had no vehicle nearby and very little food on his person (a couple of candy bars and some gum) which he gave them while he gave some thought about how to handle the situation. He found some matches and as he was building a fire in the old fireplace he asked little mother why the older boy hadn't kept a fire going to keep them warm. She told him that they were saving the matches for when her brother caught something he could cook for them. Needless to say that wasn't often.
When the older boy returned and saw smoke curling from the chimney he rushed inside and was berating his sister for wasting matches before he realized the stranger was there. When he saw him he dropped the rabbit he'd trapped and rushed the stranger, fists flailing in his effort to protect his siblings. It took our colleague several minutes to subdue the boy enough to make him understand he was no threat but there to help them. Our colleague spent three days taking care of them until he was satisfied they were well enough to leave them there long enough to go for help. The immediate problem was that the older boy feared that if someone came for them, he and his siblings would be split up and there was the real possibility that if our colleague left them alone to go for help, the boy would take his brother and sisters and hide out in the woods. He knew that without shelter the children wouldn't survive a night in those woods so he gave the boy all the assurances he could that he would see to it that they remained together. It took some careful consideration to convince the boy to believe him and it pained him to tell the boy that without help the younger children would die.
Our colleague praised the child for his efforts then told him he'd done everything he could possibly do for his family and now it was time to let adults take over. That was when that stern-faced, proud little man became the exhausted little boy he really was and threw himself into our Warlock's arms and wept like a baby. The boy crawled under that big, warm coat with his siblings and our Warlock tucked them up tight, fed the fire, and with a heavy heart he left four little children alone to go for help.
I'm happy to say that when the Warlock returned several hours later with three of his colleagues in tow, the children were there waiting to be rescued. The men fed them a meal, dressed them in new clothes, coats, hats, and mittens and then each man carried a child away from that God-forsaken hovel and out of the woods to safety. By the time they all arrived in New Orleans, Dream Teller and some of her colleagues had networked by phone and internet and a warm home with a caring couple was waiting to give four little children a whole lot of love and a new life.
Every one of us involved in that rescue, even in the smallest way, were given a special gift this Christmas; that of knowing four little abandoned children had somehow managed to stay together and keep themselves alive until someone could get them to safety. Were it not for a greater power than we, they might not have been discovered in time. The Fates, God... Whatever deity you believe in, mayhap you should go to your knees and give thanks for all your blessings. Suddenly, skewed plans don't seem so big a deal do they? Blessed May You All Be, Kaithlin.
posted by Dreamteller at
4:43 AM
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