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Show wwe mest TE OGDEN VALLEY NEWS December Page 17 15, 2006 Believing in Christmas By Shanna Francis I grew up in a small town that fit just right. It was in Eden, a real garden that grew a whole crop of blue ribbon “young’ns.” You don’t find many places any more where the soil is so rich. Cradled in this mountain valley were Grandma and Grandpa’s place and the old general store where I spent much of my time growing up. It was the very best store in town—even though it was the only store there. It stood, not quite so tall, next to Grandma and Prana s home on the corner in the center of town Of course, ee hack: then only consisted of the general store, the church, and the old blacksmith shop. This area was the very center of life as I knew it. Now what does all of this have to do with Christmas? If you’ll let me bend your ear, I'll tell you. I was Christmas shopping the other day in one of those fancy stores in the mall. Malls are interesting places. They have all kinds of things that attract your attention, things you can spend your money on; everything you can possibly imagine and more. But it seems to make the task of finding just the right personal thing to buy for those folks on your Christmas list just that more difficult. I was standing there inside one of the shops waiting my turn in line to make my purchase. In front of me, a woman waited with a little girl who wasn’t much bigger than a milk can. I smiled real big and asked the “half pint” if she was excited for Christmas. She stated all grown-up and matter-of-fact like that they didn’t believe in Christmas or Santa Claus ter that, I didn’t know quite what to say, but it sure started my mind a churning. I wondered if she and her and mother didn’t believe in angels either. I had an angel in my life—it was my Grandma. And Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa’s was probably the best time of the year—though Grandma remained an angel throughout the whole year. hat made her an angel was all the love she had to give. Most other folks in the com- erie! thought of her as an angel too, which all the more officia ee the last trees stood barren and skeletal in the yard, when the canal banks stood empty and burned, and light snow began blowing through grey skies—chasing away the last hints of autumn, it was time for made its way into the tight circle of traditional decorations. It was a curious thing—a tree about the same size I was. The thing about it, it wasn’t green, but silver and made from tinsel. Grandpa placed it up on the window sill for everyone to see. There was a large light that sat at the base of the tree shining direct- Grandma's home. the Christmas boxes to come out of the attic. In Grandpa’s store the stiff plastic Santa, permanently smiling and waving from his sled full of packages, was taped high up on the front window. Next came Donner and Dancer and the rest of the team, all frozen in motion, flying clear across the front of the store. One deer had a broken leg—the result of an accident before I became a part of the ritual. There were all of the usual decorations and more. A life-sized Santa holding a bottle of Coke hung on the front door, welcoming all of the customers as they came, and looking just as happy to see them go I remember the year a new contraption ly on it. A wheel consisting of different colored patches of cellophane slowly turned in front of the bright light, systematically allowing the tree to transform from one color to the next. But when you unplugged the light, you found that it was still just the same old silver colored tinseled tree as before. A store full of new and bright things is always exciting—especially at Christmas time. But the real excitement of Christmas wasn’t found in the store, but outside the back steps, across the dirt drive with the strip of tired grass in the middle, and up the side steps onto the worn porch that led to the old door you passed through to enter into Grandma’s home If no one _ had believed in Christmas, why, a whole chunk of me—entwined with the rest of me—would be missing, and my story surely just wouldn’t be the same. Every child in the world needs a grandma who’s an angel, and a home full to the brim with Christmas. If every child could be so lucky, the world would be a whole lot softer. It wasn’t so much the tree in Grandma’s living room that towered above me, reaching for the star that was a ways up shining down from where it was perched up next to the towering ceiling in that old house. It wasn’t in the rich holiday scents that transformed an ordinary home into a magical place that made Christmas so important. Nor the lights that bubbled on the tree when they began to warm with delight. It was more the time spent with Grandma hanging the ornaments and the icicles that weren’t so cold at all. It wasn’t the candles shining in the windows—a tradition brought from great-grandma’s homeland in Sweden—that made Christmas extra special either, or the candles lit and radiating the warmth that turned the angels on the miniature carousel. Or even the sacred nativity scene placed prominently to remind us all about the very first Christmas and the greatest gift of love ever given. No, the meaning of Christmas for me, a young girl, had more to do with the warmth that radiated from family bustling around, especially on Christmas Eve, when all were gathered together—cousins, aunts, and uncles—and traditional packages were traded and unwrapped. And from the inclusive ritualistic Christmas Eve feast where loved ones were brought together to be filled. You know, I don’t remember a whole lot about the gifts I received that were purchased from those fancy stores—somehow through time, they seemed to lose their importance. t a moment’s remembrance, feelings of the ed stir and well up within me when I t Christmas as a child, and the angel that then, that’s when I know, believe in Christmas... Nichole oe Paul L. Judd Realtor, GRI (801) 710-3074 you'll ever need to know. VOR Vil always ae Valley Real Estate 814-5667 Cell Lot MLS This for a view 35 #617894 lot has a gradual slope to the west. Perfect! walkoutbasementa ind high enough your won't be blocked by thesurrounding lots. Lot 76 MLS #613612 Seller is motivated. Best lot for the price. Easy! build lot with great views of Wolf Mountain and the Divide. Hookups already paid and included. $265,000 $220,000. Added Value Package worth over $80! applies w/ purchase of Lot 76. E = = | 4736 East 2650 North Eden MLS #628830 $349,000. Wow! What an awesome hi iome! 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