FAVORITE CHRISTMAS STORY

FAVORITE CHRISTMAS STORY

Buon giorno and Good Day!

Greeting to all the wonderful friends and fans of *Rosalie Serving Italian!* With just a few more days until Christmas, I must admit I am finally in the true "Spirit "of the Holidays. Maybe this is due to the thousands of Christmas lights in my front and back yard, along with the "singing Christmas Carol lights" my husband has so diligently provided. I just open the back door and "O Come All Ye Faithful" fills the air. I can almost see the shepherds following the star.

Or it could be the third graders from our local elementary school here in Troy MO, who visited our hospital today singing Christmas Carols to all the patients up and down the hallways. Seeing the little ones in all their innocence singing about the Christ Child brought tears to my eyes.

But then again, it might be nostalgia taking hold when I think of all the awesome Christmastimes my memory begins to recall; especially the Christmas Stories heard on KMOX radio [1120 AM]. Since I was a child, I can remember my mother and dad always tuning in to the "Voice of St. Louis," as it was called. There were so many wonderful things about KMOX to enjoy, especially the annual Christmas Stories told every year by people like Jack Carney, Jack Buck, Bob Hardy, and Miss Blue, (the cleaning lady.)

This tradition also rubbed off on my children, especially my third child, Dana Beth. It just wouldn't be Christmas unless we had KMOX on while wrapping presents on Christmas Eve. They were always the same stories, two of which we loved; "The Littlest Angel," and the one about Jim and Nell, who each sold their hair and watchbands to get enough money to buy each other a gift. As we listened to the old time radio stories, our lives were transported into another time frame; one of simplicity and candor.

But since this letter is about *My Favorite Christmas Story*, I will tell you of one that really happened. It was on a Christmas Morning many years ago when all three of my children, ages 14, 10, and 8 were thoroughly enjoying our family time. It was just the five of us having a traditional Christmas, opening the gifts we gave to one another, laughing and screaming with joy, when a knock came at the door. My two boys, Scott and Jeff ran to grab their robes since they were in PJ's, while Bill and Dana were still occupied. Not expecting anyone, I was surprised to find a dear lady from our church standing at the door and crying her eyes out. "I'm so sorry to disturb your Christmas," she said, "But I just had to come by and talk."

Just having gone through a divorce, she was devastated; and with two small children she was terribly lost. "Come right on in," I said "and just relax with us." She poured her heart out for the next few minutes, and then realized she was right in the middle of our family time. "Oh, I'm so sorry", she said, "I must be going". Looking at the children, I wondered if they felt intruded, until they all three hugged her and begged that she stay a while. Dana whispered in my ear, "Can we give her the extra gift meant for someone else under the tree?" That we did, and each child prayed along with my husband, then her pastor, that God would give her peace and joy to make it through the rough days ahead.

She left uplifted that Christmas morning, and our family went back to celebrating our Christmastime together, not in the least bit put out, but rather blessed that we could take out a short time to comfort a dear lady that so needed our love. This is My Favorite Christmas Story, because today this lady is still serving the Lord of Christmas, Jesus our Savior!

Merry Christmas and God bless you everyone!

Rosalie…check out my upcoming events on

www.rosalieservingitalian.com