The Christmas Angel Among Us

　　I come from a happy big family.On each Christmas night, our entire family gathers at my oldest sister's home, exchanging gifts, watching the nativity skit put on by the smaller children, eating, singing and enjoying a visit from Santa himself.

　　The Christmas of 1988, my husband Bob and I had four children. Peter was eleven, Leigh-Ann was nine, Laura was six and Matthew was two. When Santa arrived, Matthew parked himself on Santa's lap and pretty much remained dazzled by him for the rest of the evening. Anyone who had their picture taken with Santa that Christmas also had their picture taken with little Matthew.

　　Little did any of us know how precious those photos with Santa and Matthew would become. Five days after Christmas, our sweet little Matthew died in an accident at home. We were devastated. We were lucky to have strong support from our families and friends to help us through. I learned that the first year after a death is the hardest year, because without your love, birthdays and special days become sad, instead of joy.

　　When our first Christmas without Matthew approached, it was hard for me to get into the holiday spirit. Bob and I could hardly face putting up the decorations or shopping for special gifts for everyone. But we went through the motions for Peter, Leigh-Ann and Laura. Then, on December 13, something extraordinary happened to raise our spirits when we didn't think it was possible.

　　We were just finishing dinner when we heard a knock on the front door. When we went to answer it, no one was there. However, on the front porch was a card and gift. We opened the card and read that the gift-giver wanted to remain anonymous; he or she just wanted to help us get through a rough time by cheering us up.

　　In the gift bag was a cassette of favorite Christmas music, which was in a little cardboard Christmas tree. ?We put the cassette in our player and, song by song, the spirit of Christmas began to warm our hearts.

　　That was the beginning of a series of gifts from the clever giver, one for each day until Christmas. Each gift followed the theme of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" in a creative way. We would get calls from our family, neighbors and friends who would want to know what we had received that day. Together, we would chuckle at the ingenuity and marvel at the thoughtfulness as we enjoyed each surprise. We were so caught up in the excitement and curiosity of what would possibly come next, that our grief didn't have much of a chance to rob us of the spirit of Christmas. What our elf did was absolutely miraculous.

　　Each year since then, as we decorate our Christmas tree, we place on it the decorations we received that Christmas while we play the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas." We give thanks for our elf who was, we finally realized, our very own Christmas angel. We never did find out who it was, although we have our suspicions. We actually prefer to keep it that way. It remains a wondrous and magical experience - as mysterious and blessed as the very first Christmas.

　　我們之間的圣誕天使

　　我來自一個幸福的大家庭。在每個圣誕節的晚上，我們全家聚在我姐姐家里，交換禮物，看電視。 小孩子們給他穿上降生短劇，吃東西，唱歌，享受圣誕老人親自來訪的樂趣。

　　1988年圣誕節，我和丈夫鮑勃生了四個孩子。彼得十一歲，利安九歲，勞拉六歲，馬修兩歲。圣誕老人來的時候，馬修把自己停在圣誕老人的腿上 埃蒂在晚上剩下的時間里都被他迷住了。任何在圣誕節和圣誕老人合影的人都會和小馬修合影。

　　我們都不知道那些圣誕老人和馬修的照片會變得多么珍貴。圣誕節五天后，我們可愛的小馬修在家里意外死亡。我們被摧毀了。幸運的是，我們的家人和朋友會給予我們強有力的支持，幫助我們度過難關。死亡后的第一年是最艱難的一年，因為沒有你的愛，生日和特殊的日子變得悲傷，而快樂卻蕩然無存。

　　當我們第一次圣誕節沒有馬修的時候，我很難養成假期的精神。鮑勃和我幾乎不可能為每個人化妝或買禮物 但是我們為彼得、利安和勞拉做了一些動作.。然后，在12月13日，當我們認為這是不可能的時候，發生了一件不同尋常的事情來鼓舞我們的精神。

　　我們剛吃完晚飯，就聽到前門傳來敲門聲。當我們去接電話的時候，沒有人在場。然而，在前廊是一張卡片和禮物。我們打開卡片讀到 送禮人希望匿名；他或她只是想讓我們振作起來，幫助我們度過難關。

　　禮品袋里放著一盒最受歡迎的圣誕音樂，它就在一棵小紙板圣誕樹上。我們把盒子放在我們的播放器里， 一首歌一首歌，圣誕的精神開始溫暖我們的心。

　　這是這位聰明的送禮者送給他的一系列禮物的開始，每天都有一件禮物送給他，直到圣誕節。每件禮物都以一種創造性的方式遵循“圣誕節的十二天”的主題。我們經常能夠接到家人、鄰居和朋友的電話，他們想知道那天我們收到了什么。我們在一起時，會為自己的獨創性而發笑，對我們的體貼贊嘆不已。 每個驚喜都很愉快。我們被接下來可能發生的事情所吸引和好奇，以至于我們的悲傷沒有多少機會剝奪我們圣誕節的精神。我們的精靈確實奇跡般地做到了。

　　從那時起，每年，當我們裝飾圣誕樹時，我們都會在圣誕樹上放上我們在圣誕節收到的裝飾品，同時我們還會放一首歌“圣誕節的十二天”。我們感謝我們的精靈， 我們終于意識到我們自己的圣誕天使。雖然我們有懷疑，但我們一直沒有查出是誰。實際上我們更愿意保持這種狀態。它仍然是一場奇妙而神奇的經歷。 美好的時光--就像第一個圣誕節一樣神秘而幸福。