The
Envelope in the Tree
A
Christmas Story
Of
Roxanne
It was the first Christmas after I had
separated from my husband. I was working
at that time as a teaching assistant. As
with the school schedule, I received two weeks off at Christmas, without pay or
perhaps a bit of Employment Insurance.
It was a tough time financially, and
Christmas was looking bleak. I had a
case conference court appointment during which I explained my dire financial
situation. I was seeking spousal
support. The judge rebuked me, saying I
knew this period of unemployment was coming up and that I should have prepared
for it. All I could muster to say was
“It’s Christmas.” She awarded me $50.00
a month in spousal support. I was soo
disheartened; $50.00 wasn’t going to buy a lot of presents for three children…
One evening an expected Christmas
hamper was dropped off from our ward family. The children came to the door and
helped me examine the contents. Inside
was a plain white envelope with our surname on it. I opened it, and to my joy there was $200.00
in cash.
I dropped to my knees in such
gratitude and asked the children to surround me as we knelt in prayer and
expressed our thankfulness for this gift.
To this day I do not know if the contents were from a single or multiple
donors. But I know that night my
children and I felt the spirit of Christmas like we never had before. Ever since that Christmas it has become a
family tradition to put that same envelope on our Christmas tree to remind us
of the greater gifts and the spirit of Christmas.
It
is my hope that my children will share this story as part of their Christmas
traditions.
Roxanne Varey 2014
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