Christmas Without Mama

Christmas of 1944 is a memory I will always treasure. My mother, like many of the mothers of my playmates, worked in a defense factory. The trouble was, she was working in another city from where I lived with my sister, and we only got to see her when she was able to visit occasionally. Being just five years old, I missed my mom with a longing only a youngest child can know.

As Christmas approached, we expected Mama to come home for the holiday. But the weather turned bad and snow and ice covered everything. The roads were so slick the cars crawled. But that's okay, I said to myself, "Mama comes on a bus, and I know they'll get through." But as day after day passed with no sign of Mama, I began to worry. Finally, I asked my sister, eleven years older than me, "When is Mama going to be here?" She hesitated a little, then said, "Well, the bussess haven't been able to get through the last couple of days because of the snow storm, so she might not be here for Christmas".

My heart sank. Christmas without Mama just would not be Christmas. When my sister saw my saddened face, she quickly said, "But if there's any way to make it, you know Mama will be here." I tried to keep that thought close to my heart, but "she might not be here for Christmas" kept pushing it away. At night, I cried into my pillow, asking God to please take the storm away so Mama could come home.

Finally, it was Christmas eve. We went to church and heard the choir sing "Silent Night," and "Oh, Holy Night," but by this time, I was having none of it. I didn't feel at all thankful and blessed because Jesus was born, at least he had his Mama!! I was both angry and sad at my situation. We had not heard any more about Mama coming home, and I just knew Christmas Day was going to be miserable.

Christmas morning dawned bright and beautiful, the sunlight glistening and glittering off the ice covered trees. I'd never seen this before, but since I didn't have my mom, I wasn't so impressed with it. My presents were just okay, a new coloring book and crayons, a new doll, a new coat. These were considered in those simple days to be a pretty good Christmas, but they held no charm for me.

As we prepared to sit down to our Christmas dinner, there was a knock on the door. Opening it, we saw our neighbor, Ed Martin, standing there with his arms full of presents. And hiding behind him was the best present of all...Mama was home! I hugged her and hugged her, and couldn't stop crying and laughing.

Later after all the joyous noise had settled a bit, and I was firmly ensconced in Mama's lap, she told us the story of her trip.

The bus she was riding slid off the highway and came to rest with a broken axle. Nobody was hurt, just shaken up, but the bus couldn't go any further. All the folks on board were disappointed and concerned that they'd not make it to their destination in time for Christmas Day.

But the bus driver hailed a passing car and asked him to notify the bus service of our dilemma. The passing car was driven by our neighbor Ed, who had picked his mother up from a nearby town to take her to his house for dinner. When Ed saw my mom, he told her to get her things and he would take her on home. That's how Mama made it home to us on Christmas Day.

Suddenly, the world was such a beautiful place. The sun sparkling off the icy trees looked like a fairyland, the presents I got were wonderful, and I just knew no other little girl was so happy in all the world. Soon after that I never had to worry about Christmas without Mama again, because the war ended and she was home for good.

Story ID:	5511
Written by:	Nancy Carol Hardin (bio, link, contact, other stories)
Story type:	Family Memories
Writers Conference:	My Favorite Holiday Story
Location:	Graham Kentucky USA
Year:	1944
Person:	Me