Dad's socks, Mom's gifts on St. Nick
posted on: Monday, December 05, 2011 by: rbauer
by Sister Laura Zelten
My mother was great for celebrating the not-so-big
holidays. I remember her always calling upstairs in the
morning reminding us of why the coming day was special. It
could be Ground Hog Day, the first day of a season, Mardi Gras,
April Fools, or Abraham Lincoln's birthday.
I have fond memories around the feast of St. Nick. The
night of Dec. 5 after supper my three sisters and I would begin to
prepare our socks. We always wanted my Dad's socks. We
thought the bigger the sock the more we would receive. We
would make sure we had our name on our respective sock. There
was no way we wanted St. Nick to mix them up.
Isn't funny that I don't remember the type of candy we found but
I do remember there was always a popcorn ball wrapped in red or
green cellophane, a tangerine, and peanuts in the shell, a candy
cane and a small gift. My gift was usually a box of crayons
-- the big 64 box -- and a coloring book. I was so happy to
see all those new and unbroken crayons. I would look for the
unusual colors like periwinkle. The tangerine never made it
past breakfast.
Now I remember the love my Mom had for us by knowing especially
what each of her daughters liked. How happy she was to see us
that morning discovering the treasures in my Dad's socks.
On this feast of St. Nicholas what are the mysteries that lie
deep with in your heart? How to share God's radical
generosity with others? Blessings on your day.