A Treasury of Christmas Miracles (7 page)

There was silence between them again. “Doctor, you’re sure the man said he was Barbara’s father?”

“Definitely. I remember the call very clearly. I’m sure it must have been an uncle or something. Either way, why don’t you
look into it and let me know. It sounds like somewhere there’s a family member who is expecting her to come home to live with
them. Meanwhile I’ll work on Barbara and try to convince her that it isn’t wise for her to be alone anymore.”

“I’d like her home with us before Christmas, Doctor.”

“Don’t worry; I’ll call her this afternoon.”

Lou hung up the phone and sat staring at it, wondering who would have made such a strange call. There were several uncles
in the Oliver family, but none of them knew Barbara very well, and certainly none of them would have identified themselves
as Barbara’s father. Nevertheless, he spent much of the day contacting every male relative who knew Barbara and asking if
anyone had called Barbara’s doctor. By that evening he had learned that none of them knew anything about it.

Suddenly he remembered his prayer. He had asked God to work out Barbara’s living arrangements, and now he had discovered that
Dr. Sanchez had received a phone call from someone claiming to be Hank Oliver. Was it possible that God had answered his prayers
by letting him know that Barbara was eventually going to be going home to heaven, where she would be reunited with their father?

Lou told Anna what had happened, and she, too, thought it might be possible. Perhaps, she said, the phone call was God’s way
of letting them know Barbara was headed for a better place.

“But that doesn’t help us right now,” she added. “We still don’t know where she needs to be for the next three months until
she dies. Christmas is in two days. She needs a place to live, Lou.”

“I know. That’s the strange part. If it’s an answer to prayer, then what do we do about the next three months?”

The answer came too quickly.

Early on Christmas Eve—the day after Barbara agreed to go home with Lou and Anna—she died peacefully in her sleep. She had
been completely bedridden for just two days.

Dr. Sanchez and the others were baffled when they heard the news. Although she had been very clearly dying, they thought Barbara
should have had at least another three months to live.

At the Oliver home, Barbara’s death sent Lou and Anna on a roller-coaster ride of mixed emotions.

“I’m going to miss her so much,” Lou said, his eyes brimming with tears. “But she was no longer able to live alone, and God
knew it was time for her to come home. Home for Christmas . . .”

“It makes you wonder, doesn’t it?” Anna asked.

Lou raised an eye. “About the phone call, you mean? Yeah, it does. The more I think about it, the more I believe it just might
have been Dad making that phone call.”

“Maybe so.”

“Really,” Lou continued. “I believe God wanted us to know everything was going to work out fine. Barbara wouldn’t need a place
to live because she was going home to heaven.”

Anna was silent, lost in her own thoughts.

“You know something, Anna?” Lou said. “I always wondered if Dad really loved me. Barbara wondered the same thing. But now
I feel like I can put that behind me. God knew that I wondered about my dad. So he answered my prayer and let me know that
Dad did love both of us. He loved us so much that he was looking forward to welcoming the first of his children home.”

B
y the time Noel Conover had her first birthday, her parents, Evan and Susie, began to notice something different about her.
She was silent. Whereas other children her age might coo or say simple words, Noel rarely uttered any sound at all.

Finally her parents arranged an appointment with a specialist who was able to confirm their fears. Noel had been born deaf
and would remain so for the rest of her life. On the drive home from the doctor’s office, Noel sat in the backseat playing
with a stuffed animal while Evan and Susie held hands and shared their grief over the news.

“I want so much for her to be like the other kids,” Susie said, wiping the tears from her cheeks. “It just isn’t fair. She’s
such a beautiful girl, and now she’s going to be different from her peers for the rest of her life. When I think of all the
sounds she’ll miss ... She’ll never hear me say her name or sing her a lullaby.”

Evan stared straight ahead, keeping his eyes on the road. “I keep thinking that she’ll never hear me tell her how much I love
her.” He glanced at his wife. “She’ll never hear any of it.”

Susie and Evan vowed that day to always be strong for Noel and to expect only the best from her in every situation. They would
never allow her to use deafness as an excuse for doing anything less than she was capable of. They agreed to learn sign language
and to teach Noel as soon as possible. And they would also teach her to read lips so that she would have an easier time fitting
in with other children in a school setting. They knew there would be times of disappointment and setbacks, but they promised
to lean on each other and give Noel the best life possible despite her handicap.

As the years passed, the Conovers lived up to their promise. While she was still a toddler, Noel learned to speak to her parents
in sign language, and soon she was making progress in her ability to read lips.

Teaching Noel to make friends with hearing children proved to be the most difficult aspect of helping her learn to live with
her deafness. As a toddler, Noel was introduced to lots of children her age but never seemed to fit in with them. Once while
at the park, she tried to talk in sign language to a young girl who was obviously able to hear.

“Want to play with my dolly?” Noel signed quickly.

The child gave Noel a blank stare and looked at her hands. “Why are you moving your hands like that?” the girl asked.

Noel looked at the girl curiously, unable to understand her lip movements, and then once again used sign language to ask the
girl if she wanted to play. This time the child began to laugh at Noel, assuming that Noel was playing some kind of game.

But the girl’s laughter confused Noel and she began to cry, turning and running to where her mother sat painfully watching
the exchange from a nearby park bench.

“It’s all right,” Susie signed to her daughter, taking her into her arms. “She wants to be your friend, honey. She just didn’t
understand you.”

“She didn’t like me,” Noel signed back to her mother. Susie’s heart went out to her daughter, whose tiny spirit seemed crushed
by the encounter.

“No,” Susie signed in return. “She liked you. She just didn’t understand you.”

But Noel seemed frightened, and Susie thought she knew why. For the first time the little girl understood that she was different
from other children, and the thought must have terrified her. After that she refused to make any attempt to communicate with
other children. She would play near them and smile at them, but she always remained an outsider.

“What are we going to do, Evan?” a weary Susie complained one night. “I’ve tried to help her make friends with the other children,
but she’s afraid to make an effort, afraid they won’t like her.”

“Give it time, honey,” Evan said, sitting down at the table across from his wife. “She has a lot of adjusting to do, and she’s
come so far in such a few years. She’ll have friends one day.”

Susie was quiet for a moment. “Evan,” she finally said softly. “Have you prayed about it? I mean the friendship thing?”

Evan looked sad as he answered. “Not really. I mean, of course I’ve prayed for Noel. I’ve prayed for her since the day she
was born. But I haven’t really asked God to send her a special friend, if that’s what you mean.”

Susie nodded. “Well, let’s do it. Let’s pray together and then let’s keep praying every day that God will love Noel enough
to send her a special friend, if that’s what you mean.”

Evan reached across the table and took Susie’s hands. Together they bowed their heads and prayed. Quietly, sincerely, they
asked that Noel be watched over and cared for and that God would find it in his heart to give Noel a special friend.

After that, Evan and Susie prayed daily for Noel and the friend she might one day have. Later that year Noel turned five and
began attending a school for children with special needs. Academically she excelled far beyond her parents’ dreams, but she
still struggled socially.

One day she came home with her head high and, much as an adult would, asked her mother to sit with her on the couch and talk
for a while.

“I’m deaf, right, Mommy?” she signed.

Susie paused a moment. They had dealt with Noel’s deafness since the day she was diagnosed, but they had never discussed with
her exactly what made her different from other children. “Yes, honey.” Susie moved her hands gently, her eyes searching those
of her daughter’s. “You were born without the ability to hear sound.”

“And that makes me different, right, Mommy?” she asked.

Susie sighed, feeling the tears well up in her eyes. “Yes, honey. Most children can hear sounds. But there are many children
who were born deaf, just like you.”

“Even though I’m deaf, I’m still smart and I’m still pretty, and I’m still special. Isn’t that right, Mommy?” Noel’s eyes
shone as she asked the question, and Susie struggled to keep from crying. “And God still loves me, right?”

“Of course, Noel. God loves you very much. You are very special and beautiful and very wonderful and being deaf will never
change that.”

Noel thought for a moment. Then her hands began to move once again. “It’s time for me to have a friend, Mommy. But I want
a friend who’s deaf like me. Is that okay?”

Susie pulled her daughter close and wrapped her arms around the child, stroking her silky dark curls. “I’ve been asking God
to send you a special friend, Noel. Maybe that’s what he has in mind. A special friend who is deaf like you. We’ll just have
to wait and see.”

The year ran its course, and although Noel made more of an attempt with the other children than she had in the past, none
of her classmates was deaf, and she finished her first year of school without a close friend. Her second year started much
the same way and though they were discouraged, Evan and Susie continued to pray.

Two months before Christmas, Noel stumbled upon a picture of a white Persian kitten, much like the one of her storybooks.
She was immediately and completely enamored with the kitten and ran to show her mother the picture, her hands flying as she
tried to explain herself.

“Mommy, can I please have a kitten like that for Christmas? Please?” Noel was so animated that Susie had to calm her down
before her daughter would show her the picture in the book.

“That’s a Persian kitten, Noel,” Susie said as she looked at the picture. “You want a kitten like that?”

“Yes, yes, yes,” Noel signed quickly. “Please, Mommy,” she pleaded.

Later that night Susie and Evan discussed the idea of getting Noel a kitten for Christmas.

“She’s always loved her stuffed animals,” Susie said as she presented the idea. “Maybe that’s just what she needs right now.
A pet of her own.”

“But a white Persian kitten?” Evan asked. “They cost hundreds of dollars, Susie. You know we can’t afford that.”

Evan was a teacher and Susie worked part-time at Noel’s school. With the cost of their daughter’s special education, they
were barely able to scrape enough money together to meet monthly needs.

“I know,” Susie said. “But maybe we could save for the next few weeks and watch the advertisements in the newspaper. Maybe
there’ll be one for sale that we can afford.”

Evan thought a moment and sighed. “All right, let’s try it. But don’t say anything to Noel about it. I’d hate to get her hopes
up.”

For the next seven weeks Susie scanned the newspapers for white Persian kittens and found none for sale. Finally, a week before
Christmas, she and Evan decided they had managed to save enough money to purchase such a kitten if only they could find one.

On December 23, while Noel was still sleeping, Susie opened the newspaper and pored over the classified advertisements. Suddenly
she gasped out loud.

“Evan! They’re here. The kittens. ‘Persian kittens, white, $200.’ Can you believe it! We’ve found Noel’s kitten.”

When Noel was up and playing in the other room, Susie dialed the number listed in the advertisement.

“Yes,” she said when someone answered the phone. “I’m calling about the white Persian kittens.”

On the other line Mary Jenkins smiled. “Oh, yes,” she said. “We have a few left and they’re both the same, white kittens with
gray markings.”

“Oh.” Susie’s face fell in disappointment, and Noel watched closely trying to read her mother’s lips. “We were looking for
one that is completely white. It’s for my daughter’s Christmas present.”

“I see,” Mary said. “Well, there is one kitten that’s completely white. I’ll sell her to you for fifty dollars instead of
the two hundred, if you’re interested.”

“I don’t understand,” Susie said, puzzled.“Well”—Mary paused—“the kitten is deaf. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to sell her.”

Susie began to shake, and for a moment she was unable to speak. Noel entered the room and realized something strange was happening.
“What, Mommy? What is it?” she began to sign.

“Are you still there?” Mary asked, breaking the silence.

“Yes! We’ll be over in half an hour.”

Susie hung up the phone and called Evan into the room. “Let’s tell her,” she said. “That way we can all go get the kitty together.”

They explained that they had found a kitten for Noel ... and that even though Christmas was two days away, they wanted Noel
to have her pet that day.

Evan, Susie, and Noel met Mary on her front porch and immediately Noel was drawn to the perfect white kitten in the woman’s
arms. “Snowball,” Noel signed. And gently she took the baby cat in her arms, holding the tiny animal close to her chest.

Evan and Susie exchanged a glance. “Let’s tell her,” Susie mouthed the words and Evan nodded. Stooping to Noel’s level, Susie
quickly began moving her hands. “The kitten is a girl kitten, and it’s deaf, Noel. A deaf white Persian kitten.”