Christmas brings out our best ~ December 19, 1991

David Heiller

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1991: Ralph Wahlquist of Askov came into the office last week to pick up a package of items which Lillian Monson had left. Ralph was going to take them to residents at Moose Lake Regional Treatment Center.

Ralph and Clara Wahlquist

On top of the box was a bag with some fresh fruit in it. “She gave me that to give to Clara,” Ralph said, referring to his wife, who is a resident at Mercy Health Care Center.

Mrs. Monson, who lives down Markville way, is the coordinator for a Christmas gift drive for treatment center residents. It’s quite a task, I imagine, but she does it without complaint. She also takes the time to think about people like Clara Wahlquist, about how she might appreciate a fresh banana or apple.

Christmas brings out good deeds in us.

At Willow River Elementary, teachers came up with a new idea in place of the traditional gift exchange. This year, students are bringing in non-perishable food items, which will be donated to food shelves to help families who need them. That’s a pretty good idea, a pretty good deed.

Take the WINDOW program in Sandstone. WINDOW stands for Women In Need, Depending on Other Women. The group works with abused women and children, and the prevention of abuse. Unfortunately, they are pretty busy. I wish they weren’t.

But when WINDOW director Karen Everett heard that the Toys for Tots program in Pine County needed a coordinator, she volunteered her group. It’s extra work, she admits, but the joy of seeing needy families receive toys that they otherwise couldn’t get, the extra work is worth it.

Maybe I just notice them more now, but it seems Christmas brings out good deeds in us.

Lynn, pictured with her husband Bruce,
was the bearer of a big kindness
 in a busy, busy season!

It happened at work this week, too. I went into the darkroom Monday morning, and there was a red ribbon tied to the faucet of the sink which I could actually recognize as a sink, and not a crusted, rusted, chemical coated monstrosity that once was a sink, three years ago or so, the last time it was cleaned.

Now the sink and faucet gleamed as white and shiny as new. Lynn Storrar, our typesetter office worker, had cleaned it. It was her good deed.

This phenomenon applies to kids too. When the Faith Lutheran Sunday School needed a Joseph for their pageant this coming Sunday, my son Noah, age eight, volunteered. Noah is not real out-going. He prides himself on being a bit shy. But he raised his hand this morning, and Mary Cronin quickly accepted.

Then his sister, Malika, age six, volunteered to be Mary. That’s when Noah started having second thoughts. By the time he got home, tears were flowing. At first he blamed Mollie, said he couldn’t be Joseph if his sister was Mary. But that didn’t wash for long. He was just plain mad at himself. He couldn’t figure out what had happened, but I know, because it happened to me at his age, and probably to you too: Christmas brings out good deeds in us. Foolish sometimes, but good just the same.

Christmas bring early morning cookie kindnesses,
 which for David was truly appreciative.

THERE ARE OTHER signs around our house, signs of Christmas thoughtfulness. Hundreds of cookies coming from the oven. Songs sung several times a day.

Another sign: things are getting fixed. That three-way switch in the porch that hasn’t worked in two years, I replaced this morning. Now it works half the time, which is 50 percent better than before. That light over the kitchen sink, the one only I could turn on or off by standing on my tiptoes and screwing in or unscrewing the bulb, I’ve replaced with a new fixture that works all the time, so far.

That rickety dining room chair that was unsafe to sit on, I glued and screwed tight, so that you can sit on it if you are careful. Al Jensen sat on it the other night, and it started shaking with excitement, as if it knew the weight of a true handyman when it felt one. Al didn’t sit in it for long, fearing for his safety. Next Christmas he’ll probably bring along his glue bottle and a couple clamps and do a good deed for us.

On and on the list could go, some trivial and some life-touching, at your home and mine, in the homes of the Lillian Monsons, in places like WINDOW, around the county, state and nation. Christmas brings out good deeds in us.

Merry Christmas to you all, and may all our good deeds continue for the next 12 months too.