Slice of Life
Things were scant, but we mostly had what we needed. It was just the two of us, so two plates,
two bowls, two sets of knife/fork/spoon. The ‘mostly’ part happened when it came to glasses.
There was only one of those. The other was a victim of dropping into the sink a little too hard.
Christmas was coming, even though the money was not.
Still, I figured the local odds-and-ends,
never-know-what-will-be-there store might have something I could use to decorate and maybe
put something under the tree.
I dug through aisles of junk before I found it. A box of glass-Mason-jar mugs. And at twenty-
five cents each, the price was right!
I had enough money for twelve - one for each day of
Christmas, and more than enough for the two of us to drink at the same time - and I merrily
placed them in my cart along with a hideous roll of several-seasons-old bright-orange wrapping
paper and a ten-dollar fake Christmas tree. On an impulse, I grabbed a package of pipe
cleaners in red, green and white.
I lugged my haul up to our apartment and set up our $15 Christmas.
After assembling the tree, I made tiny Christmas wreaths by intertwining the colored pipe
cleaners. They looked cute! And there were plenty, so our tree looked full, in a pipe-cleaner
sort of way. Finally, I opened the roll of orange paper and carefully wrapped all twelve mugs.
When they were carefully arranged at the base of the tree, you would never know that this Christmas was a little lean. It looked like the room was full of bright orange packages!
Then I waited for my husband to come home...
When I ‘tah-dahhhed’ him into the room, I got a real gift. Surprise turned to disbelief.
“I thought we couldn’t do anything for Christmas – “ he stammered, eyes wide.
I just gave him my fifteen-dollar smile. Since that moment, he has always assumed that somehow, I can make something out of
nothing!
~ Sylvia ~