Drat! Those outdoor lights were working when I took them down last Christmas! What?! The price of trees has gone up again this year? What am I going to give the grandkids this year? I gave them that last year! Can’t believe I am spending all this money on this stuff, and besides, I haven’t finished paying off last year’s Christmas gifts! Why go to all the trouble to wrap up these gifts, anyway? They’re just gonna rip the paper off and practically trash them without even looking. Atheists are suing to stop Christmas, and Santa Claus is now “the reason for the season.” Does anyone know any more what Christmas is really all about? Well, what the heck, just before we go out to shop, I’ll clean up my emails, then we’ll take off.
After reviewing about 50 messages, I came upon this one. I realize many people may have already seen it, but by the time I had read through to the end, my faith in humanity had been strengthened, my sense of gratitude for “my three sons” and six grandchildren had been rekindled, and I again realized just how much I had to be thankful for this past Thanksgiving and all I have to look forward to this Christmas.
In Calgary, Alberta, a 26-year-old mother stared down at her six-year old son, who was dying of terminal leukemia. Although her heart was filled with sadness, she also had a strong feeling of determination. Like any parent, she wanted her son to grow up and fulfill all his dreams. Now that was no longer possible. The leukemia would see to that. But she still wanted her son’s dream to come true.
She took her son’s hand and asked, “Billy, did you ever think about what you wanted to be once you grew up? Did you ever dream and wish what you would do with your life?’
Mommy, “I always wanted to be a fireman when I grew up.”
Mom smiled back and said, “Let’s see if we can make your wish come true.”
Later that day, she went to her local fire department in Calgary where she met fireman Bob, who had a heart as big as Alberta. She explained her son’s final wish and asked if it might be possible to give her six-year-old son a ride around the block on a fire engine.
Fireman Bob said, “Look, we can do better than that. If you’ll have your son ready at seven o’clock Wednesday morning, we’ll make him an honorary fireman for the whole day. He can come down to the fire station, eat with us, go out on all the fire calls, the whole nine yards! And if you’ll give us his sizes, we’ll get a real fire uniform for him, with a real fire hat – not a toy – one with the emblem of the Calgary Fire Department on it, and a yellow slicker like we wear and rubber boots. They’re all manufactured right here in Calgary, so we can get them fast.”
Three days later, fireman Bob picked up Billy, dressed him in his uniform and escorted him from his hospital bed to the waiting hook and ladder truck.
Billy got to sit on the back of the truck and help steer it back to the fire station. He was in heaven. There were three fire calls in Calgary that day, and Billy got to go out on all three calls. He rode in the different fire engines, the paramedics’ van and even the fire chief’s car. He was also video-taped for the local news program.
Having his dream come true, with all the love and attention that was lavished upon him, so deeply touched Billy that he lived three months longer than any doctor thought possible.
One night, all of his vital signs began to drop dramatically and the head nurse, who believed in the hospice concept that no one should die alone, began to call the family members to the hospital.
Then she remembered the day Billy had spent as a fireman, so she called the fire chief and asked if it would be possible to send a fireman in uniform to the hospital to be with Billy as he made his transition.
The chief replied, “We can do better than that. We’ll be there in five minutes. Will you please do me a favor? When you hear the sirens screaming and see the lights flashing, will you announce over the PA system that there is not a fire, it’s the department coming to see one of its finest members one more time? And will you open the window to his room?”
About five minutes later, a hook and ladder truck arrived at the hospital and extended its ladder up to Billy’s third floor open window. Sixteen firefighters climbed up the ladder into Billy’s room. With his mother’s permission, they hugged him and held him and told him how much they loved him. With His dying breath, Billy looked up at the fire chief and said, “Chief, am I really a fireman now?”
“Billy, you are, and the head chief, Jesus, is holding your hand,” the chief said.
With those words, Billy smiled and said, “I know, He’s been holding my hand all day, and the angels have been singing.”
He closed his eyes one last time.
(Special thanks to Global News.)
Somehow, all the stuff that had so irritated me an hour ago seems so incredibly small and inconsequential.
Merry Christmas has an entirely new meaning this year, for me anyway.
