The Shoe Box (3 page)

F
all came, and the leaves on the maple tree in the backyard turned brilliant gold. Sometimes Timmy would go outside and sit with his back against the trunk of the tree, his shoe box in his lap, and just watch the leaves flutter in the cool breeze.

Mary's mother and father came for Thanksgiving. Mary had gotten up very early in the morning and started preparing pies while David stuffed the turkey. Timmy liked Mary's mother and father. Mary's mother played Monopoly with him, and her father told him funny and exciting fishing stories.

Friends came to join them for Thanksgiving dinner, and the house was full of happy people. Timmy had never seen so much food on one table before. He tried everything. When dinner was over, David gave him the wishbone. He told Timmy to let it dry and then they'd pull on it to see who would get his wish.

DECORATING THE TREE

Rick and I love the scent of a real tree, and I love decorating. Every year, when I open the boxes of ornaments, out pour wonderful memories. I hang pretzel-framed photos of grandchildren beside delicate glass and hand-painted German ”bride” ornaments. Rick and I add to our collection when we travel, one ornament to represent each trip-a ceramic sea turtle from Hawaii, a miniature violin from Austria, a buffalo from Wyoming, a shamrock from Ireland. Swedish flags drape pine branches decorated with brass ornaments from Williamsburg and Washington, D.C. We top the tree with a crown of thorns to remind us Jesus came into the world to die for our sins. The baby born in a stable and placed in a manger is the King of kings who reigns forever.

LIL OGDEN'S PIE CRUST

There is a lady in our church who is famous for her fantastic pies. Every year, we have a pie auction in which the youth raise money for a missions project. Lil Ogden's pies have gone for as much as seventy-five dollars. She has a servant's heart and is dedicated to prayer. And she's also a great cook!

UTENSILS
    large bowl
    rolling pin
    pastry blender
    measuring spoons
    flour sifter
    measuring cup
    spatula or kitchen knife
    pastry brush
    breadboard

INGREDIENTS
    1 tsp. salt
    3 cups flour
    1½ cups vegetable shortening
    1 EGG
    1 tbsp. vinegar
    5 tbsp. cold water

Mix salt and flour. Cut in shortening until fine. Mix egg, vinegar, and water together and beat with fork. Add liquid to flour mixture and stir well. Place half the dough on a floured breadboard; dust with flour and work enough into the dough to keep it from sticking. Roll out to fit size of pie plate.

FRANCINE'S APPLE PIE FILLING

The best apples for a pie are Gravenstein. They're available in late summer. We buy them by the lug at the orchard here in Sonoma County.

6–8 apples (peeled and sliced)
    1 tbsp. butter
    1 tsp. cinnamon
    dash of nutmeg
    ¾ cup sugar
    1 tbsp. flour

D
ecember came and brought with it colder weather. Mary and David bought Timmy a heavy snow parka and gloves. His mother gave him a new backpack, and he put his shoe box in it. He it to school each day, and in the afternoon he'd hang the backpack on the closet door, where he could see it while he was doing his homework or when he went to bed at night.

It seemed everybody in the small town where Mary and David Holmes and Timmy lived knew about the shoe box. But nobody but Timmy knew what was inside it.

A few boys tried to take it from him one day, but Mrs. King saw them and made them pick up trash on the school grounds during lunch hour.

Sometimes children on the bus would ask him what he had in the box, but he'd say, “Just things.”

“What kind of things?”

He would shrug, but he would never say.

SIMPLIFYING CHRISTMAS

Several years ago, when storefront Christmas decorations appeared in October, our family decided to scale back, not add to the national credit card debt, and keep our focus where it belongs: on Jesus. Each family brings one gift for the entire family to enjoy throughout the afternoon: a movie, a game, or treats. After our sit-down Christmas dinner, we gather in the living room. One of our grandchildren reads the Christmas story from Luke before gifts are distributed and opened. Each grandchild receives one gift from each family. This has made for a simple, stress-free, debt-free, joy-filled celebration of Jesus' birth.

TURKEY DRESSING

This turkey dressing recipe was passed down from Grandma Johnson to my father-in-law, Bill Rivers. Dad Bill knew just how to cook a turkey— I never tasted one that wasn't perfect. It's been a family tradition, ever since he learned from Grandma, for each generation of men to teach the next. Dad Bill taught Rick, and Rick has taught Trevor, our eldest son. Rick also flew back east to teach our daughter, Shannon, and her husband, Rich, how to roast a thanksgiving turkey à la Rivers. Since Dad Bill passed away, Rick has handed the baton to me. He encourages, oversees, and carves. Now that our children are grown, married, and have children of their own, new cooking traditions are developing.

        2 large (or 3 small) onions
        7 stalks of celery
        1 large green bell pepper
        2 (or 3) 6-oz. packages of croutons
        turkey giblets
        enough turkey broth to dampen stuffing

Grind everything and mix together. Wash inside and outside of turkey carefully. Oil inside and outside of turkey; salt inside and outside of turkey (liberally). Stuff the bird with yummy dressing.

T
he church where Mary and David Holmes took Timmy had a Christmas program each year. The choir practiced for two months to present the community with a cantata. Everyone dressed in costumes. This year part of the program was to include acting out the Nativity while the choir sang.

“We need lots of children to volunteer for the parts,” Chuck, the program director, said. “The choir will sing about the angels who came to speak to the
shepherds in the fields. And there's a song about the wise men who came from faraway lands to see Jesus. And, of course, we need a girl to play Mary and a boy to play Joseph.”