December 19, 2023 • 21 mins
Have you ever chuckled amidst the chaos of Christmas gift-wrapping, wondering if your presents will reveal the thought you poured into them or just your lack of tape-wrangling skills? Gather around as Mrs. Brewster and her friend Nancy Wells turn the daunting task of wrapping presents into an impromptu holiday gathering, sharing laughter and stories while boxing up bundles of joy for the elusive "Fir Tree Cousins." Through the tangles of ribbon and paper, we shed light on the hilariety and heart of picking out just the right gifts for people you've never met, and the shared sense of camaraderie that makes the holiday season sparkle.
Meanwhile, Tom draws us into his world with a tale that reminds us all it's not the gift, but the thought that counts. His cherished memories of a past Christmas with cousins Henry and Lucy, where modest tokens exchanged and simple moments shared led to a lifetime of warm recollections, illustrate the profound impact of genuine connections. Anne’s mix-up with gifts, leading to a heartfelt thank you note, stirs a poignant reflection on the true meaning of gift-giving. As the episode unwraps, Anne and Tom's resolve to reconnect with their distant relatives not just through parcels, but in person, emerges as an inspiring plan to infuse more sincerity into their festive traditions. So, plug in your fairy lights, sit back with a warm cup of cocoa, and join us in rediscovering the joy that comes from giving with intention and celebrating connections this holiday season.
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Speaker 1 (00:17):
Welcome to another special holiday broadcast.
Gather the family and enjoythis Christmas story, the Fur
Tree Cousins by Lucretia D Clapp.
(00:40):
Pretty Mrs Brewster sat in themiddle of her bedroom floor,
surrounded by a billowy mass oftissue paper, layers of cotton,
batting, bits of ribbon, tinseland tags.
She was tying up packages ofvarious shapes and sizes,
placing each one, when finished,in a heaped-up pile at one side
.
Her face was flushed, wisps ofcotton clung to her dress and
(01:04):
hair and she glanced upanxiously now and then at the
little clock on the desk as itticked off the minutes of the
short December afternoon.
I'll never be through never.
She remarked disconsolentlyafter one of these hurried
glances.
And there's the box for CousinHenry's family that just must go
tonight, and the home box.
(01:26):
Oh, nancy Wells.
She broke off suddenly as shecaught sight of a slender little
figure standing in the doorwaysurveying her with merry brown
eyes.
Nancy Wells, come right in here.
You're as welcome as the dayafter Christmas.
So you've reached that stage,have you Anne?
The visitor laughed as shepicked her way carefully across
(01:48):
the littered floor to aninviting wicker chair near the
fire.
Yes, I have.
You know.
I always began to feel that wayjust about this time, nancy,
only it seems to be a mightworse than usual this year.
Anne Brewster stretched out onecramped foot and groaned here I
am just slaving while you.
(02:08):
Well, you look, the verypersonification of elegant
leisure.
I suspect every single one ofthose 49 presents on your
regular list is wrapped and tiedand labeled and mailed to.
If mailed, it has to be.
Well, you can just take offyour coat and hat, nancy, fold
yourself up, turk, like on thefloor here and help me out.
(02:28):
I have an appointment at 4.30,and it's nearly that now.
I'm not nearly through, but Imust finish today.
If there's one thing I'mparticular about, nancy, it is
that a gift shall reach therecipient on time.
For my part, I don't want aChristmas present a week old, so
to speak, nor even a day, andsomehow I always manage to get
(02:49):
mine off, even if I do half killmyself doing it.
Do your Christmas shoppingearly, quoted Nancy
mischievously as she seatedherself obediently on the floor.
Yes, and only five moreshopping days?
Anne smiled ruefully.
Why don't you go on?
Those well-meant littlereminders I've had flaunted in
(03:09):
my face every time I've steppedinto a store or picked up a
daily paper.
For the past six weeks theyhave come to be as familiar as
the street sign out there onthat lamppost and receive about
the same amount of attention too.
Well, after all, anne, it is adelightful sort of rush now,
isn't it?
I'm willing to admit that I'dmiss it dreadfully.
(03:30):
Nancy Wells looked about herappreciatively at the chintz
hung room, glowing in the warmthof an open wood fire and with
its pleasant disarray of snowypaper and bright ribbons.
My, but that's a lovely package, she remarked as Anne cut a
square of tissue paper andmeasured a length of silver cord
.
And what a clever idea that is.
(03:51):
I should never have thought ofusing cotton batting and a
sprinkling of diamond dust forthe top layer.
Well, you see, nancy, this isfor cousin Harriet.
She has everything anyone couldpossibly wish for, and she
always sends me such beautifulthings that I make a special
effort to have my gift to her asdainty as possible and a little
different.
(04:11):
Anne paused and glanced at theclock.
My, look, what time it is.
I'll have to go.
I wonder if you'd just as soonstay, nancy, and finish up that
little pile over there by thecouch there for the fir tree
cousins down on the farm.
The fir tree cousins, whateverdo you mean, anne?
Anne laughed happily as shestood up and shook off the bits
(04:32):
of tinsel and ribbon from herskirt.
Oh, I always call them that infun.
She explained they're Tom'scousins that live down in Maine.
The idea struck me, I suppose,because theirs is the country of
the pointed firs.
You know, I've never seen anyof them, but I've always sent
them a box at Christmas eversince I've been married.
What fun, nancy exclaimedenthusiastically.
(04:52):
How many are there and what doyou send them?
I don't know that I should callit fun exactly.
Anne answered dubiously.
This buying gifts for peopleyou've never seen and only know
by hearsay, is well notunalloyed.
Let's see, there are cousinHenry and cousin Lucy, then the
boys Alec and Joe and littleHenry and one girl, louise, who
(05:15):
is just between the two olderboys, and oh yes, there's
Grandma Lewis, cousin Lucy'smother, and ticked off the names
on her fingers.
Yes, there are just seven ofthem.
Tom says they have a fine farm.
He used to go there summerswhen he was a boy.
He just adores cousin Lucy andactually wanted to take me down
there on our wedding trip.
You can't accuse me ofprocrastination as far as they
(05:37):
are concerned, nancy, for Ialways buy their things long
before any of the others.
You see, I usually know justabout what I'm going to send
each one.
I hit upon a certain thing andstick to it as nearly as
possible every year.
It's easier.
Why, anne, you don't give themthe very same thing year after
year?
I hope Nancy looked up andcomical dismay.
(05:59):
Well, why not?
Anne demanded a trifle sharply.
Take cousin Henry, for instance.
I usually get a nice warmmuffler for him because I'm sure
he can.
But I should think Nancyinterrupted my dear.
It's just freezing cold there.
They have terrible winters andone needs mufflers and more
mufflers.
You can't have too many.
(06:20):
Then I nearly always pick out anapron of some kind for cousin
Lucy.
One can't have too many apronseither, especially when she does
all her own work.
For Grandma Lewis I'd choose abag or something to put her
knitting in.
This year I found some sort ofan affair for holding the yarn.
I didn't understand it verywell myself, although they told
me it was perfectly simple, butI thought an experienced knitter
(06:43):
like Grandma Lewis would knowhow to use it.
Lewis is just 16, so it's easyenough to select a pair of
stockings or a handkerchief forher.
As for the boys, alec and Joe,I always get them neckties they
can't have too many, you knowand for little Henry a game or
toy of some kind.
Then Tom adds a box of candy.
(07:04):
Promptly, one week afterChristmas I receive a perfectly
proper, polite letter fromcousin Lucy, thanking me on
behalf of every member of theFur Tree household.
It does sound a bit perfunctory, doesn't it, nancy?
Sort of a cut and driedperformance all around.
Somehow Christmas is getting tobe more and more like that
every year, don't you think so?
(07:24):
I must confess I'm glad,positively relieved when it's
over.
I'm always a wreck, mentally aswell as physically".
Nancy made no comment.
Instead she just pointed withthe scissors to a heap of large
and small packages over at oneside.
What do you want done withthose, anne?
Oh, they go in the home box.
(07:45):
That has to go tonight too.
I was just starting to tie themup.
Do you suppose you'd have timefor them too?
Nancy, dear, I know I'm justimposing on you.
You just put the two piles onmy bed when you finished
wrapping, will you?
Then Tom can pack them afterdinner.
Now I'm off.
Goodbye and thanks Offly.
A minute later, nancy Wellsheard the front door slam.
(08:06):
Then the house settled down toan empty quiet, broken only by
the rustling of tissue paper andthe click of scissors.
As Nancy folded and cut andmeasured and snipped, the fire
burned to a bed of dull embers,and beyond the small square
window panes, the snow-litlandscape darkened to dusk.
There, said Nancy, as she gavea final pat to the last bow.
(08:30):
And how pretty they looked too,she added, leaning back to
survey her handiwork.
Then she carried them over tothe bed and arranged them in two
neat piles.
Certainly looks like MerryChristmas, all right.
With which remark she put onher coat and hat and went home.
It was several hours later thatAnne Brewster surveyed, with
(08:50):
weariness compounded with relief, the empty spaces on bed and
floor.
The last label had been pastedon, while Tom stood by with
hammer and nails, ready toperform the final offices.
And the two boxes, the one forthe fir tree cousins down on the
main farm, the other for Anne'sown family in Michigan, were
now on their way to the downtownoffice.
(09:12):
And now that's over for anotheryear at least.
She sighed, and I'm too tiredto care much whether those boxes
reach their destination safelyor not.
Twelve months from tonight, inall probability, I shall be
sitting in this same spot makingthat very same remark.
And I used to just loveChristmas too.
(09:32):
Anne Brewster she was AnneMartin then had been brought up
in a family where there had beenlittle money to spare even for
necessities.
Nevertheless, mr and Mrs Martinhad always contrived to make
the day and the season itselfone of happy memories for their
four children.
No elaborate celebration oflater years ever held quite the
(09:54):
same degree of delight andanticipation shared then by
every member of the family.
Anne recalled the weeks brimfulof plans and mysterious secrets
that preceded the day itself,with all its simple gifts and
its spirit of peace and goodwilltoward all.
Now it was so different.
(10:14):
Tired Anne, a masculine voicebroke in on her reverie and
Tom's broad-shouldered figurefilled the doorway.
Cheer up, the boxes are ontheir way, or should be shortly,
and a few days more we'll seethe season's finish.
That's just it, tom.
We're losing this spirit ofChristmas, the simplicity and
(10:35):
good wishes I mean.
That used to be the big thingabout it.
Tom whistled thoughtfully, andwhen he spoke his voice had lost
its merry banter.
I guess you're right there,anne.
We're certainly a long way offfrom the old days of five-cent
horns and candy canes.
A lot of that was youth, ofcourse, but just the same, this
(10:56):
modern deal is all wrong.
It's a selfish proposition as Ilook at it.
I don't believe I've ever toldyou, anne, about a certain
Christmas of mine long ago,about the nicest I've ever known
.
Where was it?
Do you mean at home?
Anne looked up interested.
No, tom's voice changed and ashadow crossed his face.
(11:17):
You know I never had much of ahome, anne.
My parents both died when I wasonly a little chap and I was
sort of parceled out to variousrelatives for different seasons
of the year.
No, this Christmas I'm thinkingof was with cousin Henry and
cousin Lucy.
Strange, I haven't told youbefore.
I knew you spent your summersthere.
(11:38):
Anne answered a littlecuriously, but I've never heard
of you being there for Christmas.
Well, I was and I've neverforgotten it.
It was my first glimpse of whata real homey Christmas can be.
The tree was just a homemadeaffair, that is, the trimmings.
We cut the tree ourselves abeautiful, slender fir and
hauled it down on a sled fromthe hill back of the house.
(12:00):
We popped corn and made wreaths, strung cranberries and cut
stars out of colored paper.
And I tell you that tree waspretty.
It wasn't glittering withornaments and blazing with
candles or electric lights.
Did you have presents, askedAnne.
Yes, I remember.
Cousin Henry gave me a pair ofhomemade snowshoes, grandma
(12:22):
Lewis had knit some red mittensfor me and cousin Lucy a cap to
match.
I was the happiest boy in thestate of Maine.
Tom paused a moment, but somehow, anne, what I remember most was
the spirit of the day itself.
Cousin Lucy had worked hard, Iknow, and in the evening had a
lot of neighbors in, but she wasthe life of the crowd.
(12:43):
Anne, I'd like you to meet andreally know cousin Lucy.
I wish she'd ask us to visitthem sometime.
Somehow I never supposed.
Anne began hesitatingly,supposed what Tom asked.
Well, I guess I never gave yourfir tree cousins much thought.
Tom, I didn't think you caredparticularly.
You've never talked much aboutthem nor made any effort to.
(13:06):
Yes, I know Tom broke in, andmore is the shame to me too.
It's curious sometimes that, nomatter how much you may think
of people, you just sort ofdrift apart.
But you'd better get to bed now, anne.
You look tired to death.
The Thomas Brewsters faced eachother across the breakfast table
the morning after New Year'sthere was a pile of letters
(13:29):
beside Anne's plate.
I know exactly what's in everyone of these missives.
She sighed.
Tom smiled as he opened hismorning paper.
There was a silence for severalminutes while Anne slowly
sliced the seals one by one.
She picked up a square whiteenvelope that bore her father's
well-known handwriting, and aminute later a sudden
(13:51):
exclamation made Tom look up.
Why, tom, tom, brewster".
Ann's eyes glanced down thesingle page.
Then she began to read aloud mydear Ann, perhaps you won't
remember it, but you gave me amuffler for Christmas once, long
ago, when you were a verylittle girl.
You picked it out yourself andI'll say this that you showed
(14:13):
remarkably good taste.
That muffler, or what's left ofit, is tucked away somewhere in
the attic.
Now the one you sent this yeargives me almost as much pleasure
as did that one, although Isuppose I'll have to concede
that these new styles are reallyprettier but not any warmer or
more useful than the old.
Your mother thinks they must becoming back into favor again,
(14:36):
but I don't care whether theyare or not.
They're warm and they help keepa clean color clean.
For my part, I'm glad we'regetting away from the showy
Christmases of the last fewyears and down to a simpler,
saner giving and receiving.
Lots of love and thanks to youand Tom.
Father Ann drew forth a smallfolded sheet that had been
(14:57):
tucked inside the other one.
It read Dear Ann, I'm justgoing to add a line to put in
with your fathers, for we have ahouse full of company and
there's no time for a realletter.
Your box this year, althoughsomething of a surprise, was
nonetheless welcome.
I have thought for severalyears that we ought all of us,
(15:17):
to give simpler gifts.
A remembrance, no matter howsmall, if carefully and
thoughtfully chosen to meet theneed or desire of the recipient,
carries with it more of thereal Christmas spirit than the
costliest gift or one chosen atrandom.
I don't know when I've had anapron given me before I began to
think they had gone out offashion.
(15:38):
I put yours right on and yourfather said it made him think of
when you children were little.
The boys will write youthemselves, but I'll just say
that Ned and Harold bothremarked that they were glad you
sent them neckties.
You know we've always tried tothink up something different,
with the result that both arerather low on that article.
We've had lots of fun withHugh's game.
(16:00):
He confided to me that he'sbeen hoping somebody would give
him one.
So you see, ann dear, we areall pleased with our things and
send you our grateful thanks.
Love to you both from mother PS.
I was afraid my letter tellingyou of Aunt Cordelia's arrival
had not reached you in time, butI need not have worried.
(16:21):
She was much taken with thatcase for holding her yarn.
She had had one and lost it,and Katie was real pleased with
that pretty handkerchief.
With a hand that trembled alittle and with burning cheeks,
ann drew forth the last letterin the pile.
It was postmarked main andcontained two plain line sheets,
tablet size.
(16:41):
This is from cousin Lucy.
Ann began A strange little notecreeping into her voice.
My dear Ann, when we opened yourbox on Christmas morning I
thought I had never seenanything so attractive.
Seals and ribbons and greetingsmay not seem so much, perhaps,
to you city people, but for usisolated ones they add a great
(17:04):
deal to our enjoyment andappreciation.
Your gifts fulfilled certainlong felt desires, one or two of
which, I suspect, are olderthan you are, ann.
Perhaps you cannot understandthe joy of receiving something
you've always wanted yet did notreally need.
I am writing with my beautifulpen before me on the table.
You see, it is the first one,the first really nice pen I've
(17:29):
ever owned.
That is fulfilled desire numberone.
The second is the sight of yourcousin Henry enjoying a bit of
leisure before the fire with hisnew book.
I suppose Tom may have told youthat once, as a young man, your
cousin Henry made this verytrip to the headwaters of the
Peace River.
So few new and worthwhile booksfind their way to us.
(17:51):
Louise and the boys will writelater, so I'll only say that
Alec actually takes his bigflashlight to bed with him.
Joe is inordinately proud ofthat safety razor.
And as for little Henry, well,his father and I both feel that
we ought to thank you on our ownbehalf For all.
Our efforts to make anout-of-door lad of him seem to
(18:11):
have failed hitherto.
He is the student of the family, but the new skates lure him
outside and help to strike theproper balance.
Louise loves her beaded bag, asindeed what girl wouldn't.
And as for Grandma Lewis, shefairly flaunts that bit of rose
point.
She confided to me that at 80years she had at last given up
(18:34):
all hope of ever possessing apiece of real lace.
I have written a long letter,but I doubt if, after all, I've
really succeeded in expressingeven a small part of our
appreciation to you and Tom foryour carefully chosen gifts.
To feel that a certain thinghas been chosen especially for
(18:55):
you, to fit your ownindividuality and particular
desire, if not always need, this, it has always seemed to me, is
the true spirit of Christmas,and I think you have found it,
anne.
Before closing, I want to askif you and Tom can't arrange to
make us a visit this summer,wishing you both a happy new
(19:17):
year lovingly, cousin Lucy.
Anne Brewster laid down theletter with something that was
half a sob and half a laugh.
I'm just too ashamed to live.
Why, what's the matter, anne?
Tom looked puzzled.
Cousin Lucy speaks of mycarefully chosen gifts, and they
weren't at all.
They weren't even meant for anyof them.
(19:39):
You see Anne swallowed the lumpin her throat.
I've always just chosen theirthings at random.
Yes, I have, tom, one of thoseChristmas obligations you spoke
of the other night, to bedisposed of with as little time
and effort as possible.
And then last week, when I washurrying to get everything off.
(19:59):
Nancy Wells came over and Ileft a ton of things for her to
finish wrapping while I dashedoff to the dressmakers and I
suppose in some way I got thefir tree cousins and the home
pile mixed.
Tom pushed back his chair fromthe table.
Seems to me, anne dear, thatwe've had the answer to our
query what's wrong withChristmas?
(20:21):
You've sort of stumbled uponthe truth this year.
But Tom stopped whistlingthoughtfully as he drew on his
overcoat.
There was a misty light inAnne's eyes as she stood beside
him.
When will you have yourvacation, tom?
August probably.
Well, we're going to spend itwith our fir tree cousins and
(20:42):
Tom.
I can hardly wait the End.
Welcome to another special holiday broadcast.
Gather the family and enjoythis Christmas story, the Fur
Tree Cousins by Lucretia D Clapp.
(00:40):
Pretty Mrs Brewster sat in themiddle of her bedroom floor,
surrounded by a billowy mass oftissue paper, layers of cotton,
batting, bits of ribbon, tinseland tags.
She was tying up packages ofvarious shapes and sizes,
placing each one, when finished,in a heaped-up pile at one side
.
Her face was flushed, wisps ofcotton clung to her dress and
(01:04):
hair and she glanced upanxiously now and then at the
little clock on the desk as itticked off the minutes of the
short December afternoon.
I'll never be through never.
She remarked disconsolentlyafter one of these hurried
glances.
And there's the box for CousinHenry's family that just must go
tonight, and the home box.
(01:26):
Oh, nancy Wells.
She broke off suddenly as shecaught sight of a slender little
figure standing in the doorwaysurveying her with merry brown
eyes.
Nancy Wells, come right in here.
You're as welcome as the dayafter Christmas.
So you've reached that stage,have you Anne?
The visitor laughed as shepicked her way carefully across
(01:48):
the littered floor to aninviting wicker chair near the
fire.
Yes, I have.
You know.
I always began to feel that wayjust about this time, nancy,
only it seems to be a mightworse than usual this year.
Anne Brewster stretched out onecramped foot and groaned here I
am just slaving while you.
(02:08):
Well, you look, the verypersonification of elegant
leisure.
I suspect every single one ofthose 49 presents on your
regular list is wrapped and tiedand labeled and mailed to.
If mailed, it has to be.
Well, you can just take offyour coat and hat, nancy, fold
yourself up, turk, like on thefloor here and help me out.
(02:28):
I have an appointment at 4.30,and it's nearly that now.
I'm not nearly through, but Imust finish today.
If there's one thing I'mparticular about, nancy, it is
that a gift shall reach therecipient on time.
For my part, I don't want aChristmas present a week old, so
to speak, nor even a day, andsomehow I always manage to get
(02:49):
mine off, even if I do half killmyself doing it.
Do your Christmas shoppingearly, quoted Nancy
mischievously as she seatedherself obediently on the floor.
Yes, and only five moreshopping days?
Anne smiled ruefully.
Why don't you go on?
Those well-meant littlereminders I've had flaunted in
(03:09):
my face every time I've steppedinto a store or picked up a
daily paper.
For the past six weeks theyhave come to be as familiar as
the street sign out there onthat lamppost and receive about
the same amount of attention too.
Well, after all, anne, it is adelightful sort of rush now,
isn't it?
I'm willing to admit that I'dmiss it dreadfully.
(03:30):
Nancy Wells looked about herappreciatively at the chintz
hung room, glowing in the warmthof an open wood fire and with
its pleasant disarray of snowypaper and bright ribbons.
My, but that's a lovely package, she remarked as Anne cut a
square of tissue paper andmeasured a length of silver cord
.
And what a clever idea that is.
(03:51):
I should never have thought ofusing cotton batting and a
sprinkling of diamond dust forthe top layer.
Well, you see, nancy, this isfor cousin Harriet.
She has everything anyone couldpossibly wish for, and she
always sends me such beautifulthings that I make a special
effort to have my gift to her asdainty as possible and a little
different.
(04:11):
Anne paused and glanced at theclock.
My, look, what time it is.
I'll have to go.
I wonder if you'd just as soonstay, nancy, and finish up that
little pile over there by thecouch there for the fir tree
cousins down on the farm.
The fir tree cousins, whateverdo you mean, anne?
Anne laughed happily as shestood up and shook off the bits
(04:32):
of tinsel and ribbon from herskirt.
Oh, I always call them that infun.
She explained they're Tom'scousins that live down in Maine.
The idea struck me, I suppose,because theirs is the country of
the pointed firs.
You know, I've never seen anyof them, but I've always sent
them a box at Christmas eversince I've been married.
What fun, nancy exclaimedenthusiastically.
(04:52):
How many are there and what doyou send them?
I don't know that I should callit fun exactly.
Anne answered dubiously.
This buying gifts for peopleyou've never seen and only know
by hearsay, is well notunalloyed.
Let's see, there are cousinHenry and cousin Lucy, then the
boys Alec and Joe and littleHenry and one girl, louise, who
(05:15):
is just between the two olderboys, and oh yes, there's
Grandma Lewis, cousin Lucy'smother, and ticked off the names
on her fingers.
Yes, there are just seven ofthem.
Tom says they have a fine farm.
He used to go there summerswhen he was a boy.
He just adores cousin Lucy andactually wanted to take me down
there on our wedding trip.
You can't accuse me ofprocrastination as far as they
(05:37):
are concerned, nancy, for Ialways buy their things long
before any of the others.
You see, I usually know justabout what I'm going to send
each one.
I hit upon a certain thing andstick to it as nearly as
possible every year.
It's easier.
Why, anne, you don't give themthe very same thing year after
year?
I hope Nancy looked up andcomical dismay.
(05:59):
Well, why not?
Anne demanded a trifle sharply.
Take cousin Henry, for instance.
I usually get a nice warmmuffler for him because I'm sure
he can.
But I should think Nancyinterrupted my dear.
It's just freezing cold there.
They have terrible winters andone needs mufflers and more
mufflers.
You can't have too many.
(06:20):
Then I nearly always pick out anapron of some kind for cousin
Lucy.
One can't have too many apronseither, especially when she does
all her own work.
For Grandma Lewis I'd choose abag or something to put her
knitting in.
This year I found some sort ofan affair for holding the yarn.
I didn't understand it verywell myself, although they told
me it was perfectly simple, butI thought an experienced knitter
(06:43):
like Grandma Lewis would knowhow to use it.
Lewis is just 16, so it's easyenough to select a pair of
stockings or a handkerchief forher.
As for the boys, alec and Joe,I always get them neckties they
can't have too many, you knowand for little Henry a game or
toy of some kind.
Then Tom adds a box of candy.
(07:04):
Promptly, one week afterChristmas I receive a perfectly
proper, polite letter fromcousin Lucy, thanking me on
behalf of every member of theFur Tree household.
It does sound a bit perfunctory, doesn't it, nancy?
Sort of a cut and driedperformance all around.
Somehow Christmas is getting tobe more and more like that
every year, don't you think so?
(07:24):
I must confess I'm glad,positively relieved when it's
over.
I'm always a wreck, mentally aswell as physically".
Nancy made no comment.
Instead she just pointed withthe scissors to a heap of large
and small packages over at oneside.
What do you want done withthose, anne?
Oh, they go in the home box.
(07:45):
That has to go tonight too.
I was just starting to tie themup.
Do you suppose you'd have timefor them too?
Nancy, dear, I know I'm justimposing on you.
You just put the two piles onmy bed when you finished
wrapping, will you?
Then Tom can pack them afterdinner.
Now I'm off.
Goodbye and thanks Offly.
A minute later, nancy Wellsheard the front door slam.
(08:06):
Then the house settled down toan empty quiet, broken only by
the rustling of tissue paper andthe click of scissors.
As Nancy folded and cut andmeasured and snipped, the fire
burned to a bed of dull embers,and beyond the small square
window panes, the snow-litlandscape darkened to dusk.
There, said Nancy, as she gavea final pat to the last bow.
(08:30):
And how pretty they looked too,she added, leaning back to
survey her handiwork.
Then she carried them over tothe bed and arranged them in two
neat piles.
Certainly looks like MerryChristmas, all right.
With which remark she put onher coat and hat and went home.
It was several hours later thatAnne Brewster surveyed, with
(08:50):
weariness compounded with relief, the empty spaces on bed and
floor.
The last label had been pastedon, while Tom stood by with
hammer and nails, ready toperform the final offices.
And the two boxes, the one forthe fir tree cousins down on the
main farm, the other for Anne'sown family in Michigan, were
now on their way to the downtownoffice.
(09:12):
And now that's over for anotheryear at least.
She sighed, and I'm too tiredto care much whether those boxes
reach their destination safelyor not.
Twelve months from tonight, inall probability, I shall be
sitting in this same spot makingthat very same remark.
And I used to just loveChristmas too.
(09:32):
Anne Brewster she was AnneMartin then had been brought up
in a family where there had beenlittle money to spare even for
necessities.
Nevertheless, mr and Mrs Martinhad always contrived to make
the day and the season itselfone of happy memories for their
four children.
No elaborate celebration oflater years ever held quite the
(09:54):
same degree of delight andanticipation shared then by
every member of the family.
Anne recalled the weeks brimfulof plans and mysterious secrets
that preceded the day itself,with all its simple gifts and
its spirit of peace and goodwilltoward all.
Now it was so different.
(10:14):
Tired Anne, a masculine voicebroke in on her reverie and
Tom's broad-shouldered figurefilled the doorway.
Cheer up, the boxes are ontheir way, or should be shortly,
and a few days more we'll seethe season's finish.
That's just it, tom.
We're losing this spirit ofChristmas, the simplicity and
(10:35):
good wishes I mean.
That used to be the big thingabout it.
Tom whistled thoughtfully, andwhen he spoke his voice had lost
its merry banter.
I guess you're right there,anne.
We're certainly a long way offfrom the old days of five-cent
horns and candy canes.
A lot of that was youth, ofcourse, but just the same, this
(10:56):
modern deal is all wrong.
It's a selfish proposition as Ilook at it.
I don't believe I've ever toldyou, anne, about a certain
Christmas of mine long ago,about the nicest I've ever known
.
Where was it?
Do you mean at home?
Anne looked up interested.
No, tom's voice changed and ashadow crossed his face.
(11:17):
You know I never had much of ahome, anne.
My parents both died when I wasonly a little chap and I was
sort of parceled out to variousrelatives for different seasons
of the year.
No, this Christmas I'm thinkingof was with cousin Henry and
cousin Lucy.
Strange, I haven't told youbefore.
I knew you spent your summersthere.
(11:38):
Anne answered a littlecuriously, but I've never heard
of you being there for Christmas.
Well, I was and I've neverforgotten it.
It was my first glimpse of whata real homey Christmas can be.
The tree was just a homemadeaffair, that is, the trimmings.
We cut the tree ourselves abeautiful, slender fir and
hauled it down on a sled fromthe hill back of the house.
(12:00):
We popped corn and made wreaths, strung cranberries and cut
stars out of colored paper.
And I tell you that tree waspretty.
It wasn't glittering withornaments and blazing with
candles or electric lights.
Did you have presents, askedAnne.
Yes, I remember.
Cousin Henry gave me a pair ofhomemade snowshoes, grandma
(12:22):
Lewis had knit some red mittensfor me and cousin Lucy a cap to
match.
I was the happiest boy in thestate of Maine.
Tom paused a moment, but somehow, anne, what I remember most was
the spirit of the day itself.
Cousin Lucy had worked hard, Iknow, and in the evening had a
lot of neighbors in, but she wasthe life of the crowd.
(12:43):
Anne, I'd like you to meet andreally know cousin Lucy.
I wish she'd ask us to visitthem sometime.
Somehow I never supposed.
Anne began hesitatingly,supposed what Tom asked.
Well, I guess I never gave yourfir tree cousins much thought.
Tom, I didn't think you caredparticularly.
You've never talked much aboutthem nor made any effort to.
(13:06):
Yes, I know Tom broke in, andmore is the shame to me too.
It's curious sometimes that, nomatter how much you may think
of people, you just sort ofdrift apart.
But you'd better get to bed now, anne.
You look tired to death.
The Thomas Brewsters faced eachother across the breakfast table
the morning after New Year'sthere was a pile of letters
(13:29):
beside Anne's plate.
I know exactly what's in everyone of these missives.
She sighed.
Tom smiled as he opened hismorning paper.
There was a silence for severalminutes while Anne slowly
sliced the seals one by one.
She picked up a square whiteenvelope that bore her father's
well-known handwriting, and aminute later a sudden
(13:51):
exclamation made Tom look up.
Why, tom, tom, brewster".
Ann's eyes glanced down thesingle page.
Then she began to read aloud mydear Ann, perhaps you won't
remember it, but you gave me amuffler for Christmas once, long
ago, when you were a verylittle girl.
You picked it out yourself andI'll say this that you showed
(14:13):
remarkably good taste.
That muffler, or what's left ofit, is tucked away somewhere in
the attic.
Now the one you sent this yeargives me almost as much pleasure
as did that one, although Isuppose I'll have to concede
that these new styles are reallyprettier but not any warmer or
more useful than the old.
Your mother thinks they must becoming back into favor again,
(14:36):
but I don't care whether theyare or not.
They're warm and they help keepa clean color clean.
For my part, I'm glad we'regetting away from the showy
Christmases of the last fewyears and down to a simpler,
saner giving and receiving.
Lots of love and thanks to youand Tom.
Father Ann drew forth a smallfolded sheet that had been
(14:57):
tucked inside the other one.
It read Dear Ann, I'm justgoing to add a line to put in
with your fathers, for we have ahouse full of company and
there's no time for a realletter.
Your box this year, althoughsomething of a surprise, was
nonetheless welcome.
I have thought for severalyears that we ought all of us,
(15:17):
to give simpler gifts.
A remembrance, no matter howsmall, if carefully and
thoughtfully chosen to meet theneed or desire of the recipient,
carries with it more of thereal Christmas spirit than the
costliest gift or one chosen atrandom.
I don't know when I've had anapron given me before I began to
think they had gone out offashion.
(15:38):
I put yours right on and yourfather said it made him think of
when you children were little.
The boys will write youthemselves, but I'll just say
that Ned and Harold bothremarked that they were glad you
sent them neckties.
You know we've always tried tothink up something different,
with the result that both arerather low on that article.
We've had lots of fun withHugh's game.
(16:00):
He confided to me that he'sbeen hoping somebody would give
him one.
So you see, ann dear, we areall pleased with our things and
send you our grateful thanks.
Love to you both from mother PS.
I was afraid my letter tellingyou of Aunt Cordelia's arrival
had not reached you in time, butI need not have worried.
(16:21):
She was much taken with thatcase for holding her yarn.
She had had one and lost it,and Katie was real pleased with
that pretty handkerchief.
With a hand that trembled alittle and with burning cheeks,
ann drew forth the last letterin the pile.
It was postmarked main andcontained two plain line sheets,
tablet size.
(16:41):
This is from cousin Lucy.
Ann began A strange little notecreeping into her voice.
My dear Ann, when we opened yourbox on Christmas morning I
thought I had never seenanything so attractive.
Seals and ribbons and greetingsmay not seem so much, perhaps,
to you city people, but for usisolated ones they add a great
(17:04):
deal to our enjoyment andappreciation.
Your gifts fulfilled certainlong felt desires, one or two of
which, I suspect, are olderthan you are, ann.
Perhaps you cannot understandthe joy of receiving something
you've always wanted yet did notreally need.
I am writing with my beautifulpen before me on the table.
You see, it is the first one,the first really nice pen I've
(17:29):
ever owned.
That is fulfilled desire numberone.
The second is the sight of yourcousin Henry enjoying a bit of
leisure before the fire with hisnew book.
I suppose Tom may have told youthat once, as a young man, your
cousin Henry made this verytrip to the headwaters of the
Peace River.
So few new and worthwhile booksfind their way to us.
(17:51):
Louise and the boys will writelater, so I'll only say that
Alec actually takes his bigflashlight to bed with him.
Joe is inordinately proud ofthat safety razor.
And as for little Henry, well,his father and I both feel that
we ought to thank you on our ownbehalf For all.
Our efforts to make anout-of-door lad of him seem to
(18:11):
have failed hitherto.
He is the student of the family, but the new skates lure him
outside and help to strike theproper balance.
Louise loves her beaded bag, asindeed what girl wouldn't.
And as for Grandma Lewis, shefairly flaunts that bit of rose
point.
She confided to me that at 80years she had at last given up
(18:34):
all hope of ever possessing apiece of real lace.
I have written a long letter,but I doubt if, after all, I've
really succeeded in expressingeven a small part of our
appreciation to you and Tom foryour carefully chosen gifts.
To feel that a certain thinghas been chosen especially for
(18:55):
you, to fit your ownindividuality and particular
desire, if not always need, this, it has always seemed to me, is
the true spirit of Christmas,and I think you have found it,
anne.
Before closing, I want to askif you and Tom can't arrange to
make us a visit this summer,wishing you both a happy new
(19:17):
year lovingly, cousin Lucy.
Anne Brewster laid down theletter with something that was
half a sob and half a laugh.
I'm just too ashamed to live.
Why, what's the matter, anne?
Tom looked puzzled.
Cousin Lucy speaks of mycarefully chosen gifts, and they
weren't at all.
They weren't even meant for anyof them.
(19:39):
You see Anne swallowed the lumpin her throat.
I've always just chosen theirthings at random.
Yes, I have, tom, one of thoseChristmas obligations you spoke
of the other night, to bedisposed of with as little time
and effort as possible.
And then last week, when I washurrying to get everything off.
(19:59):
Nancy Wells came over and Ileft a ton of things for her to
finish wrapping while I dashedoff to the dressmakers and I
suppose in some way I got thefir tree cousins and the home
pile mixed.
Tom pushed back his chair fromthe table.
Seems to me, anne dear, thatwe've had the answer to our
query what's wrong withChristmas?
(20:21):
You've sort of stumbled uponthe truth this year.
But Tom stopped whistlingthoughtfully as he drew on his
overcoat.
There was a misty light inAnne's eyes as she stood beside
him.
When will you have yourvacation, tom?
August probably.
Well, we're going to spend itwith our fir tree cousins and
(20:42):
Tom.
I can hardly wait the End.
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