Five Christmas Cards and Zero Bills

Who remembers the joy of running to the mail box? Once a month there was a magazine with your name on it, or maybe even a letter from a friend. In the age of innocence bills were addressed to someone else. That is why one Pennsylvania resident was very surprised to receive one day in mid-December five Christmas cards and absolutely nothing else. Oddly, a refrain went through her mind as she checked the mailbox once more:

Five catalogues?

Four junk mail flyers?

Three bills due pronto?

Two fund-raising requests?

And a progress report from Johnny's school?

She took the cards into the house and counted them again. Then she stacked them, but the effect was lost. So she spread them out in a fan shape for the other members of her household to see when they arrived home: five Christmas cards and nothing else! Would she believe such a thing were possible if she had not witnessed it with her own eyes?

Her son arrived home and dropped his coat and backpack on the floor. "Any mail for me?" he asked.

"Christmas cards!" the Pennsylvania resident responded joyfully.

"They're for everybody," he said glumly. It was his birthday in two days and he was expecting items addressed specifically for him. "Hey, it looks like we'll have a delay tomorrow," he noted. Yes, temperatures in the mid-state were hanging in that dangerous 31-33 degree range. Precipitation could take the form of rain or snow or the even more calamitous sleet slash freezing rain. Thus, mid-staters in droves dashed to the store for milk, bread and eggs.

Her oldest daughter arrived home and immediately started arguing with her brother about rights to the computer. She did not even notice the mail waiting there. She had social networking to do.

Next the youngest came bounding through the door. She ran through two rooms until she found her mother and gave her a hug. Then she went into a breathless account of her day before shedding her coat and backpack onto the floor. She was too young to care about mail.

Finally, her husband arrived home carrying a grocery bag of milk, bread, and eggs. He glanced briefly at the fan of Christmas cards and asked, "Did my package come?" The package of which he spoke contained the items he had left at his buddy's house the previous weekend which said buddy had promised to mail.

"No package," she said, "but we got a bunch of Christmas cards."

"Darn," her husband said.

The next day it rained. Overnight cloud cover had kept the temperatures from falling to freezing. There were no delays. So she went to work. When she came home, there were a couple of bills, a catalogue, and a fund-raising letter in the mailbox. What a gray, cold miserable day. She went inside and made tea. Then she took her unopened fan of Christmas cards and her tea and sat down in her comfy chair. She opened the cards one by one. She ran her finger over the raised pictures and letters. She read the inside sentiments and enjoyed the personalized notes. She carefully perused the pictures of the children who were growing up so fast.

Not everyone has to appreciate a small miracle for it to exist.