I looked forward to Christmas shopping with my mother and Linda, my sister, in
the late fifties and early sixties. My sister is fourteen months younger than I.
Momma always dressed us in our best for these shopping trips. Linda was the cute
one. Everything fit just right on her, but not on me. I was tall and as thin as
a rail. (Oh, to have that problem again!) It seems my ankles and wrists were
always showing, because of those inevitable growing spurts. When someone
approached, I’d just hide behind Momma.
There were no malls then. We would go to downtown Bristol, Tennessee and
Virginia to shop. We went to Woolworth’s, McCroy’s, Roses, Charles’, Sears, J.C.
Penney’s, and H.P. King’s. All the windows were decorated with moving figures in
beautiful snow scenes. Each store tried to outdo the others. Window shopping was
a big part of the thrill. There were so many people that we had to hold hands.
Everyone was shoulder to shoulder and elbow to elbow, laughing and talking.
The best part of all was stopping at Cole’s Drugstore for an old fashion
chocolate milk shake and a hamburger and fries. I will always remember sitting
all safe and warm in the window booth with my mother and sister as we watched
the whole world pass by.
Each year the same thing happened. Momma would see someone she knew from work or
someone who was a relative. They would greet each other and somewhere in their
conversation the woman would remark on how sweet and cute my sister was. Any
remark in my direction was only an afterthought. This did not sit well with my
mother who never made the slightest difference between Linda and me. She would
bite her tongue and off we would go.
This happened over and over, with the exception of one lady. She would talk with
Momma and remark how pretty Linda was, but then she would bend down and look
into my eyes and say, “…but, this one has a deep inner beauty.” She did not say
that to me once, but every time she saw me. Of course at the time I did not
understand what that meant. As I grew older I thought many times upon those
words. When I worried about some flaw in my features, my mother would remind me
what that wonderful lady had said.
What did that lady see in such a small girl’s dark brown eyes that made her know
just what needed to be said and heard? She may never know, but that little life
was touched and changed by those words. All this gift cost her was a little
time, but it is one of the most priceless gifts I have ever received.
I am a mother and a grandmother now, and I will always remember that just a few
words spoken at the right time can mean the world to a child. This year join me
in looking for the one who does not quite fit in for whatever reason. Pray that
God will give us just the right words to make a difference that can last a
lifetime.
“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.“
Proverbs 25:11
Shirley Anne Cox scox2@chartertn.net
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