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The best Christmas present of allMy Favorite Christmas Memory It was 1957, America was in the middle of an economic recession. It was Christmas Eve Day and I was VERY pregnant with our first child. My husband was laid off from the 3M Co. and I was on a leave of absence from my job as a staff nurse at Veterans Hospital in Minneapolis. We had a real Christmas tree and had decorated it with strings of cranberries and popcorn along with other homemade ornaments. We were very happy but tired of waiting for this child who had been due around Thanksgiving Day (obviously miscalculated). After attending church in the evening we went to bed tired but with great anticipation. I was awakened early Christmas morning with labor pains and we prepared to go to the hospital. We had no presents for each other but, early in the afternoon, my mother came with a bag full of gifts. At around 8 p.m. that evening God gave each of us the greatest gift we have ever received on Christmas ñ a very beautiful girl. We named her Ann Marie after Mary and her mother Ann. Ever since then I have realized that God gives the best gifts and many times they come with cries and coos and eyes that shine like the star that shone over Bethlehem. I also found out that just like His mother, my life has never been the same. Elizabeth Langlois ©ECM Post Review |