Some 20 years ago on a Christmas morning I drove to a local convenience store to pick up a couple of items we were going to need prior to the family holiday celebration.
Arriving there, I saw the place was packed with other folks with last-minute needs. The girl at the counter was doing her best to check people out, but it was obvious she very stressed at the crushing crowd.
When she waited on the man directly in front of me, he let her know how upset he was at the amount of time he had to wait and made a snide remark.
The dear girl was doing her best not to cry, but I could see her eyes filling with tears. When it was my turn, I gave a big smile and a few happy words. Then I reached in my coat pocket and pulled out a small jar candle. Handing it to her I said, “You’re doing a great job, just relax. If you feel yourself getting stressed take the candle and smell it for just a second, the Christmassy fragrance will relax you and help you focus on the season.”
That made her smile for a time. Leaving the store, I thought of all the people who had to work on Christmas instead of being home with their families. That started a yearly tradition of me and my Lady arising early Christmas day to take everyone in the community who had to work a candle with a “Merry Christmas and Thank You.”
The first year we gave out some 50 candles. Since those early days the number has grown to between 400 and 500. Without a doubt this has given us so much joy to see the smiling faces of people by giving them a small gift for their service to many of us.
Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond our control, we will not be making our annual trek to hand out candles. And this truly breaks our hearts. We will do everything in our power to return next Christmas.
So, to all the convenience store workers, restaurant, hotel employees, law enforcement, fire department, EMT, to all the staff at the hospitals and nursing homes. Don’t give up on us, we’ll be back next year, Good Lord’s will and the creek don’t rise!
Until then, from old Santa Candle and his Beautiful Elf. A Merry and Blessed Christmas!
