The Lucknow Sentinel, 1979-12-19, Page 2th a 2A- limanew Sentinel, Wednesd y, December 19, 1979
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snow?''
"Your startin' to, , sound like Scrooge
hinself," she chided, "We haven't had a
green Christmas yet, so just stop your
complainin' ' an' drink your tea." She
fluffed his pillow and tucked. in . his
blankets;
"1 remember one year," Wester began,
"musts.' been October sometime, we were
already :knee„ deep in snow, took us all our
time just. to : get to the barn. Yup, those
were the days."
"I also remember that was the year you
couldn't move an inch out your door for
fear of bein" buried in snow,." Etty added.
"But there was snow, Etty, snow for
Christmas.and that was all .that mattered."
"Mr. Wester," Etty sighed, "drink your
tea before it gets cold.""
Mr. Wester chuckled at Etty's'bickering.
"You're not my mother," he chided good-
naturedly and was off into a fit of laughter
which left him choking. His raspy cough.
continued until he managed to take a sip of
water from the glass Mrs. Ester handed
him.
The bout of coughing had drawn his
strength and he lay back on` his pillows,
exhausted. When Etty asked him if he
wanted his tea, he feebly lifted a hand and
waved her. away, Mrs. Ester gathered the
cups and saucers,. tears stinging her eyes:
Mr. Wester was getting . worse. She
misjudged when she put the milk .pitcher
on the tray and upset it onthe floor.
"Good Lord,": she said partly to herself,
partly aloud.
What?'' said -Mr. Wester tiredly.
"Nothing,: Mr.. Wester, have a good
sleep now." She mopped up the milkand
then silently slipped out of the room. Once
in the kitchen, sheplaced the cups and:
saucers in the sink . and began to wash
them.
The wind whirled outside the . window
andonce or twice Wester had been
awakened as it tapped.at the window pane.
Finally hehad slipped off into a: deep sleep
and dreamed.
A little .boy opened his eyes and
stretched his arms over his . head. The
frosty air touched his skin and an army of
•
goosebumps rose in defense, The boy
pulled his arms under the sheets back to
the drowsy warmth under his patchwork
quilt, And Hien it- hit him, how could he.
forget, it was Christmas. By this time. his
brother had begun to stir ' and within
seconds he too had remembered,. With one
look at each other and a giggle, the boys
were out of bed, forgetting. their . warm
beds and dashing downstairs; pastthe
clock and through the doorway which led to
the sitting room and on . this particular
morning, .the Christmas tree. Presents
unimaginable crowded the fir tree and
excited giggling and shouts of glee filled
the air.
. After, the boys had had a hot breakfast
and then the small boy's family piled into
the cutter. Under the comforters, the
• family sang. Christmas carols all the way to
church.
To the little boy, the service felt like it
would never end. When the last hymn had
finally finished the boy ran outside to meet
friends and tell.. of the wonderful things
Santa had left behind the night before
while his patents chatted to their acquain•
tances: Then, it was back home in th, e
cutter this time with Uncle. John and Aunt
May.
The` fragrance. of a 'cooking turkey was
the first thing that greeted them as they all
clattered into the house; joking and laugh-
ing.
The ladies began to prepare the rest of
dinner, the men sat and talked about the
success of last 'year'scrops and the little
boy and his brother were back under the
tree wherethey" had stored: their toys for
safety.
" . It seemed like ages before the dinner
bell rang and theboys dashed to the table.
Eyes opened wide and stomachs growled
approvingly as the big feast lay before the
family. The ladieswere triumphant. The
small .boy . could not imagine anything.
better than Christmas dinner. ;There was
the turkey, that his father had fattened all
fall, 4and roast potatoes, carrots, peas,
turnips, squash, stuffing and cranberries.
The small boy watched in awe as his father
and uncle asked for seconds and more
seconds. (One Year he had triedthat and
Christmas is the time for togetherness.
Tenderness. Loving. And the greatest gift
of . them all ---..:peace. Live . it fully this
season. Sincere gratitude to our patrons.
J " Fairview Foods
ANN, ROBERTA, WILDA AND ALLAN
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Fairview airy & Car W�ij
} TOM, IFILDA011110ELELLIE AND MARK
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had to be sent to bed with a sore stomach
and without dessert). Then .came the
pumpkin pie piled high with homemade
cream,. whipped, the'cookies in the shag
of Christmas trees and last of all the fruit
cake which had sat tempting wrapped in
cheesecloth, for. tnonths. • •
Finally the men dragged themselves
from the table and into thelsitting room
where they relaxed in front of the fire
smoking their pipes. The small boy liked to "
-sit at his father's knee and listened as he
reminisced about past Christmases; His
imagination would turn the licking flames
into the characters of his father's stories. It
did not take long before sleep began
nudging at him. He was awakened by his
mother kissing him on the forehead and
tucking him into bed. "«
The boy listened for a while to the
muffled voices of the grownups, down-
stairs. He knew they were sipping on hot
apple cider and talking. It wouldbe a little
while yet, before they decided to go to bed.
The small boy drifted off to sleep in a
dreamland filled with gigantic snowballs
and Christmas Trees. ,
Mrs. Ester worried, Mr. Wester had
been worse today, she was thankful he had
fallen .asleep. .Tears sprang toher .eyes but
did not fall, she had learned to control
them,
Wester ; was awakened ,by a knocking
sound at . his window. : The wind had
increased and the sky above the small rural
town had turned dark as theheavy clouds
Y•w
skidded across the sky, •
It took quite a few minutes before
Wester noticed the snow drifting across his
window. A strange calmnesss spread: over
him as he watched the snow slowly
covering the window. A low sigh of
satisfaction escaped .from his parted lips.
and a smile of content warmed his tired
face. He closed his eyes for the last time. It
wa. s the way Etty found him as the clock
struck 12.
The leaf had taken refuge by an old
cutter which was in the backyard of ,one of
the houses in town. Slowly, slowly the last
leaf of autumn was buried by the feather
light snow. It .wasno longer to be bothered
by any wind, but was in store for a long
peaceful rest.
ehristmas tranquility
holds a message for all of us.
In:; the midst of this season``
°-)10( we take time to appreciate and be
grateful. And as we pause, one thing'
comes to mind how much we value
your friendly support!
ort!
Board of Directors, Management and Staff