The Christmas Dress + Holiday House Tour 2018

Today I’m sharing photos of our house dressed up for the holidays, but as usual I am sharing a favorite Christmas story from my past instead of writing captions (see previous tours here and here). This year it’s a story from my childhood. Hope you enjoy!

Her mom had truly outdone herself this time. A peach dress with light-blue violets and puffy sleeves hung from a hanger in the laundry-room doorway. “Is that dress for me or Stephie?” the girl asked.

“No, I made it for Bobbie,” her mom said, trimming a loose thread from the hem and searching for other stragglers.

The girl thought this over. Bobbie was a girl in her class with long, greasy hair, lots of freckles, and a really big smile. She was small for her age and had a sister who was small for her age too. Bobbie’s mom wore big, dark glasses and always looked sad, and her dad looked like one of those guys you’d see walking alone downtown, with a thick beard and gray skin. They lived on the outskirts of town in a small yellow house, and Bobbie sometimes came to church activities. At one activity, Bobbie told the girl that her dad got mad once and drove a butcher knife into the kitchen table to scare his family.

“Why did you make a dress for her?” the girl asked.

“Well, we are going to take Christmas presents to their house on Christmas Eve and drop them off and run before they see us,” her mom said.

Before long it was Christmas Eve and almost time to go to Grandma and Grandpa’s house. The girl had been excited all day because Christmas Eve was even better than Christmas, and she always felt so good when her family sat together in the living room, toasty from the fire and warm as they sang the carols of Christ’s birth. She was also excited to drop off presents at Bobbie’s and try to get away without getting caught.

Dad was driving, and as he drove he explained the plan. “All right, I’m going to park on the side of the road, get the bag, drop it on their doorstep, and run back to the car—hopefully before they see me.”

“But what if WE can’t see you?” the girl asked her dad.

“I’ll park so you can,” he answered, and the girl realized they were already there. She surveyed the yard to make sure no one was watching and noticed the jalopy parked in the driveway and the naked bulb hanging over the front door. There were no colorful lights, and she couldn’t see a Christmas tree through the windows of the house.

Her dad jumped out, leaving the door open, and grabbed the sack. He ran full speed to the front door, dropped the package, and sprinted to the car. The girl couldn’t help but giggle, and she thought her daddy ran faster than any other daddy in the world. As soon as his rear met the seat, the family was off and heading for their Christmas Eve party, each member saying nothing but enjoying the warm feeling of the Christmas spirit.

It was the first day back to school after Christmas vacation, and at recess the girl saw Bobbie swinging across the monkey bars in the peach dress with light-blue violets. The tennis shoes on Bobbie’s feet didn’t match the dress, and hair hung in her face, but anyone could tell she felt more beautiful than any other girl on the playground that day. And she was.

Merry Christmas, friends!