Some Christmas surprises ~ December 2003

David Heiller

Mom tried to sound nonchalant with her request. “Come see what I’ve got in the living room.”

I walked into that familiar room and couldn’t help smile. A bright little Christmas tree stood on the table near the window.

David and Fern

In fact, I was a little shocked, because for the first time this Christmas season, I felt Christmas. Something clicked, and there it was, just a thought, “Hey, it’s Christmas!”

Mom had gone to Mitchells to wish Doris and Mitch a happy 50th anniversary, and as usually happens when people go visit Doris and Mitch, she hadn’t left empty-handed. But no banjo parts for Mom—they had given her this tree.

“It used to be Grandma Heiller’s,” Mom said. That made the tree glow even brighter. Grandma died 20 years ago this November. Her house was always a welcome spot, and never more so than at Christmas. It’s good to have a part of her with us this year in the form of the tree, and good to see it in Mom’s house. Mom was going to go with something less festive. A couple of pine branches in a vase probably would have sufficed. Grandma’s old tree was perfect for her and Cindy and me.

Christmas comes in little surprise packages like that tree.

A second one hit me on Saturday. I stopped at Karen “Beak” Colsch’s house in Reno to take some pictures of “The Bauer Girls” (they definitely deserve capital letters) making Christmas cookies.

Christmas cookie time at our house.

I tried to act professional at first. “Do you have a system?” I asked Beak in a loud voice. “No, just chaos,” she shouted back.

So I dropped my reporter’s pretenses and stood in awe as about 20 people moved through the kitchen and living room, laughing, talking, rolling cookies, baking cookies, dipping cookies, carrying cookies, and yes, eating cookies.

Grandpa Bauer was fulfilling that role. “The kids get to unwrap all the candy, then Grandpa eats it,” his daughter, Cindy Augedahl, said with a laugh.

I took some pictures, which will appear in the December 24 Argus, then left, but not before Cindy presented me with a plate full of cookies.

Another dose of Christmas had snuck up on me at the Bauer’s cookie extravaganza. They eat some of the cookies, and they give some away to very appreciative friends and even a few schmucks like me. But mostly what they do is celebrate Christmas in fine fashion indeed. They are lucky.

Christmas in Christ Chapel.

That afternoon we went to a concert at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter where our daughter Malika was singing. Is there anything finer than watching your child—no matter how old—perform in a Christmas pageant?

The music was beautiful. The congregation joined the choir and orchestra on the final hymn, “Oh Come All Ye Faithful”, and there it was again, complete with goosebumps and a little baby named Jesus. Christmas.

I’ll wait for more surprises in the coming weeks. I hope they visit you too.