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when the only thing I had to do to get ready was to try be good, especially during those times when Santa or his elves might be spying. In religious education class, Reverend Buell told the Christmas story on the flannel board and the Spirit of Christmas poured into our hearts and minds as we traced Mary and Joseph’s journey to the stable at Bethlehem. It was a magical time, a time filled with gifts of good will, like the free movie at the Franjo Theater, thanks to the local Kiwanis club. I wonder how many other children in that crowded theater had never been to a movie before? And there was Santa, large as life, handing each child a little box of hard candy. On Christmas Eve, we “hung” our stockings on the back of the couch. I remember pulling on my snowsuit jacket and wrapping myself in mittens and scarf before i hurried out on the front porch to search the night sky for the star of Bethlehem. Sometimes I saw the northern lights flashing in the sky. On a clear night, when the frosty air froze in my nose, I would spy the brightest star in the northern sky, and run inside to tell my mother I had seen The Star!
We were poor back then, and in that drafty old farmhouse we barely noticed the meager heat from the Round Oak stove, but the warmth of Christmas filled our hearts.

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