A Christmas Story

Alan Jenkins looked up at the dark sky. It was supposed to start snowing soon, and the newspapers were predicting at least 6-8 inches. It was definitely cold enough. The thermometer on the clock in the square was showing 26 degrees. Alan decided to head for home, and since he was the owner of one of Boston's largest department stores, he had the luxury of choosing his own hours.

  As he headed out of the parking lot in his Lexus, he noticed three teenagers harassing an older man on the sidewalk. The man was about 70, possibly older and was wearing a ragged overcoat, with socks on his hands to keep warm. Alan stopped the car, got out, and chased off the boys. He asked the man if he needed a lift somewhere. The temperature was supposed to drop to the single digits by midnight. The man accepted the ride and Alan dropped him off at a homeless shelter about a mile from his store. Alan asked the man his name, and he said to just call him John.

  As Alan started towards home, he felt very tired and depressed. He had mixed feelings about the Christmas season. As a businessperson, it was one of his busiest and profitable times of the year. On a personal level, he hated Christmas and had ever since he was twelve years old. His mother had gotten sick and had died on Christmas Day of that year. His father changed after that. He started drinking and hit Alan a lot.

  By the time Alan was sixteen, he had had enough and ran away. He knew his father would not look for him. Alan never looked back. He had grown up in New York, and after he ran away, he lived on the streets for two years. When he turned eighteen, he joined the Army to get away from his past and make a fresh start. After four years in the Army, he started working in sales at a department store in Philadelphia. He was good at his job and he was a hard worker. After four years, he was promoted to manager and transferred to Boston.

  Over the next ten years, he had advanced to Vice President and taking a big risk, he opened his own department store, separate from the chain he had worked for. Within ten years, it was one of the biggest stores in Boston. He had carefully invested his money and now, at age 46, he was living very comfortably.

  Alan was married and had been for 12 years. He met his wife Barbara at an art museum where she was a curator.Barbara did not know much about Alan's past. She knew that both of his parents were dead. Even though Alan's father could still be alive, he had been dead to Alan for 30 years ever since he had run away. Barbara did not even know Alan's real name. When Alan ran away, he changed his name from Michael Alan Rodgers to Alan Jenkins. Jenkins had been his mother's maiden name.

  Barbara had fallen in love with Alan and the fact that he did not go to church, or celebrate religious holidays was something she could live with. She thought that over time, she could change his way of thinking. When Alan had left home, he had also left the church he belonged to. He still believed in God, but he decided that he was an uncaring God, otherwise how would he have let his mother die and his father beat him for four years. Alan hated his mother for dying and he hated his father for living.

  Alan and Barbara had four children, a ten-year-old daughter Victoria, an eight-year-old son Edward, and twin sons Mark and Kevin were five. When they started their family, it was agreed that if Barbara wanted them involved in religion, she would be responsible for taking them to church. Religious holidays were almost nonexistent at their house. Barbara took the children to her parents' house for the holidays. This arrangement became more complicated as the children grew older and asked questions. Alan was beginning to feel pressure from Barbara to start going to church and celebrate the holidays with his family.

  There was tension in their marriage. This year, before Barbara took the children to her parents' house for Christmas, she told Alan that when she got back, they had to talk. It was the seventeenth of December and as Alan pulled into his driveway, his children rushed towards him begging him to go with them to their grandparents' house. Alan hugged and kissed them goodbye and said he would see them in a week. As the kids got into the van, his son Mark wished him a Merry Christmas. Alan just stood there as if he had not heard a word. His heart was made of stone when it came to Christmas. It had become that way after years of hate had built up in his soul. Before Barbara got into the van, she told Alan that if things did not get better, this might be the end for them.

  Alan knew what she meant. He had seen the marriage dying for several months now. As he watched his family drive away, he was even more depressed. He went in the house, had a glass of whiskey, and fell asleep watching the news.

  That night, six inches of snow fell throughout the city. After he dug out his driveway, Alan drove to the store. When he got to work, he noticed the elderly man from the previous evening sitting on a bench outside his store. Alan passed by him without giving him a second glance. He went about his day like any other day, barely talking to anyone and just going through the books. It was a very profitable Christmas season this year. He missed his family, but he tried to put them out of his mind.

  About three o'clock, Alan decided to go home early. As he left the store, John, the elderly man he had given a ride the day before, spoke to him and asked if he could spare some change so that he could get something to eat. A sudden wave of compassion came over Alan. He invited the man to go to a local diner with him and said he would buy him lunch. The old man was very grateful.

  When the food was brought to their table, John started attacking his meal as if he had not eaten in days. After John had finished a second serving of desert and coffee, they began to talk. Soon, the conversation got around to Alan's family. Alan needed someone to talk to, and he felt safe talking to this homeless man.

  John remained quiet for a while, listening to Alan's troubles. When Alan had finished, John told him about his family that he once had over 30 years ago. He told of his beautiful wife who died of breast cancer at the age of 35. She had not been diagnosed quickly enough and when the cancer was found, it was too late to treat it. She was his best friend, and when she died, his whole life fell apart. He began drinking to avoid dealing with life, He had one son, who had some of the same facial features as his mother and when he looked at his son, he saw his wife and the pain was too unbearable. He knew that it was not his son's fault. When John drank, he lost control and knocked his son around.

  After a few years, his son got tired of it and ran away, and John never saw him again. John's life went downhill from there. He drank so much, that he lost his job, and then his car and his house. He went from one job to another, for the next several years, never keeping one for too long, due to his drinking binges and his self-destructive behavior. The guilt of beating his son and of losing his wife (he believed he could have done something to save her), was a heavy weight on his shoulders.

  One day, about three years ago, John could not stand the pain any longer. He prayed for Got to end his life. He passed out and the next thing he remembered was waking up in a hospital. The doctors told him that a stranger had brought him, and not a moment too soon. John had almost died, but he believed an angel helped him. He decided to turn his life around. He went into a detox center to get all of the alcohol out of his system. He went through counseling to straighten out his life. Through counseling, he realized that the reason he was trying to destroy his life, was because of the loss of his wife and his son, who he loved more that life itself. He also found God and he was able to forgive himself. He had been sober for three years now.

  As Alan listened to John's story, he began to feel uneasy. He had a feeling that he had known this man before. He asked John where he had grown up. John said that he used to live in New York many years ago, but over the past ten years or so, he had lived all over the East Coast. Alan then asked him his last name. John
replied that his last name was Rodgers. Alan felt like he was going to be sick. His stomach was all knotted up inside.

  He now knew for sure who this man was. He was Alan's father, whom he had not seen for over 30 years. Alan could not stay a moment longer. He paid the check, gave John twenty dollars, and left as quickly as he could.

  Alan needed to clear his head. He had hated his father for so long, thinking that his father had not wanted or loved him. As Alan was thinking about his father, he passed by the church where he and Barbara had been married 12 years ago. Suddenly, he stopped and turned around and went back towards the church. When he got there, he walked into the church. Besides his wedding, he had only been in the church three times, for the baptisms of his children.

  Alan walked up the aisle to the altar. He fell to his knees and started crying. He asked God for his forgiveness for the years he wasted, hating his mother and father, for letting the hate almost destroy his marriage and family that meant everything to him.

  Then he totally fell apart. All of the hate that he had stored up in his heart over the past 30 years was pouring out of him through his tears. He could not stop crying and had totally lost control.

  Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder. The pastor of the church had heard his confession. He put his arm around Alan, told him, and told him that God had forgiven him, now he had to forgive himself. All the hate was now melted away and his heart was filled with love for his mother, his father, his wife and his children and for God. He felt like a heavy load had been lifted off his shoulders and he felt truly at peace with God and himself.

  The first thing that Alan did the next day was to call Barbara and plead with her to come home a few days early, so that they could talk. Then, he started decorating the house of Christmas for the first time ever. He cut down the biggest fullest Christmas tree that he could find at the local tree farm. He took it home and decorated it with the most beautiful decorations that his store had.

  He decorated the house inside and out. It was beautiful and elegant. He hung up stockings over the fireplace for his children and then he went shopping for presents. Over the past years, he had given "things" to his children. This year he was going to give time with their father. He bought season tickets to the Boston Red Sox for the entire family. He bought tickets to the ballet, to the opera, and to Broadway plays and many other events as well. For his wife, if she still loved him, he would take her on a second honeymoon, to Paris.Barbara had always wanted to go there, but he had never had the time.

  He went to the best gourmet shops to buy the ingredients for an authentic Christmas dinner, that he would cook himself. When he was finished with all of the shopping and wrapping, he had one last thing to do. He headed to the homeless shelter where he had dropped his father off a couple days before. He was lucky. John was there.

  He invited him to spend Christmas with his family. John gladly accepted. Once they were inside Alan's house, Alan told John that he was his son. They both hugged and cried. They talked most of the evening. Alan insisted that his father move in with them, and he would not take no for an answer.

  The next day was Christmas Eve. As his family pulled into their driveway, the Christmas lights all around the house came to life. Barbara thought she had turned into the wrong driveway. As they entered the house, they got another surprise. There in the front room was the biggest, most beautiful Christmas tree that any of them had ever seen, and the first one that had ever been in their house. Alan came downstairs with the biggest smile that his family had ever seen. He hugged each of his children for a long time and kissed each of them.

  Then, he took Barbara in his arms and told her that he was sorry for the cold-hearted person he had been for all of those years. He told her that he still loved her and that he hoped she still loved him. Alan told her all that had happened over the past week. He asked her for her forgiveness and as they hugged, Alan started crying.

  Barbara could not believe her eyes or her ears. It was a Christmas miracle. While she was enjoying the moment, Alan brought in an elderly man and introduced Barbara to his father. After they hugged, Alan introduced him to his four grandchildren. He announced to the family, that his father would now be living with them from that moment on.

  He let the children open their gifts and they went wild when they saw all of the tickets. Then, Alan gave Barbara her present. When she saw the tickets to Paris, She almost fainted.

  After the best Christmas dinner they had ever eaten, the seven of them all went to the Christmas Eve Service at the church. There were tears in Alan's, Barbara's and John's eyes as they celebrated Christmas together. On the way home from Church, They all sang Christmas carols and when they arrived at home, they all drank hot chocolate in front of a crackling fireplace as Alan read the story of Christ's birth from the bible.

  Alan and Barbara stood outside holding hands. Alan thanked God for bringing his family back to him. He knew that his mother was looking down on him and was smiling. Life was good.

  The End