December 10th,
‘15
To all my
friends,
Throughout my forty years plus
of teaching I always began every class with prayer to Jesus, followed by a
story that would speak to the theme of that day’s lesson. Especially at
Christmas time all my lessons plans in Theology class were oriented toward
themes that related to Christ’s first coming on Christmas night. Truly “the
world could not contain the books that would have to be written” (Jn. 21:25) to
record the lessons streaming forth from the heavenly light that dawned on Christmas
night.
In all those beautiful years of
teaching I for one was never at a loss to find yet another lesson that called
out to me from the Christmas story - and not only from the Christmas story but
as well from the “miracle stories” of Christmas that all of us experience
during the Christmas season each year. “The Christmas Train” which follows is
one such story, one such “miracle story”.
“Mr. Michaud, are you going to
tell us a story?” At the start of class my students never asked any other
question of me more than that one. And though it happened long ago, I can still
see the faces of an Emily, a Mike, a Molly, an Eric, a Kelly, a Peter, or Gen
asking that question always with enthusiasm, and always with a twinkle in their
eye. It was a question repeated
thousands of times throughout the years. And it was question never asked
more of me than at Christmas time. Truly one of my most cherished memories of
my students, whether at Guertin, Feehan, or CM, is how in the glow of
candlelight they would all settle in at the start of class for the daily
Christmas story, and never with more eager anticipation than for the story that
follows, “The Christmas Train”.
Enjoy! Merry
Christmas!
Doug +
THE CHRISTMAS
TRAIN
It
was 1954. I was seven years old. My family lived in the poorest section of our
town, the Spruce Street section of Lawrence, Mass. My father hadn’t started his
business yet. So there were times when he struggled to find work and would
often be gone out of state (Connecticut at Pratt-Whitney aircraft) during the
week to find employment and bring home an income. He always did. As a child
then I always remember awesome food on the table, and I always felt the
security and warmth of our Spruce street home.
What
I didn’t know then, and only learned as an adult, was how my grandmother – my
“Bacchie” – helped us during those days of hardship. She lived with us when I
was small, and with her savings and social security she helped with the
mortgage, the necessities of food and clothing, the utility bills, and even
with money for the movies.
I’ll
always remember her in her rocking chair, saying her daily rosaries and
watching my brother Paul and I play our games – Monopoly mainly, and my brother
Paul always won. I remember too that so many days ended with me being
rocked to sleep in grandmother’s arms, all the while as she continued to pray
her rosary ever in her hands.
One
day as she watched and rocked and prayed, I was on the parlor rug, looking
through the pictures in the newspaper. It was a month before Christmas and the
paper had all kinds of toys pictured in the store adds. I remember like it was
yesterday the first moment that I saw it: the picture of the Lionel train set.
My excitement at the sight of it was palpable and Bacchie noticed right away.
The
price of the train was $4.95 – can you believe it?! Yes, in 1954 it was $4.95
for a train set of six cars made out of real metal, not plastic. There was a
figure eight track set, a mountain tunnel, a railroad crossing signal with
barrier bar gates that dropped down and came up again after the train passed.
On one of the railroad cars – a log car – there was a crane to lift the logs
off the train. The logs were part of the train set too.
The
steam engine was solid black metal with chrome silver plating. It blew smoke as
it traveled the track, and pellets were provided to make the smoke. You only
had to put them into the smoke stack, and the electric train heated the pellets
and made them smoke.
The
caboose was awesome too. It was flame red and had a rear door that opened to a
back platform with a railing. There was a little railroad conductor figure that
could attach to the platform and ride there at the rear of the train.
My
heart was so set on the thought of having that train, and Santa was most
assuredly going to get it for me that Christmas. With my mom and dad I was
insistent that this was exactly what was going to happen. They weren’t so sure
though. They told not to get my hopes too high. The price of that train was
expensive (Remember five dollars then would be a thousand dollars today!), and
Santa had to buy toys for other children as well. I remember that even days
before Christmas I was praying for the miracle of having a train that was too
expensive to get just for me.
But
then Bacchie was watching and listening to all this pleading. She had seen my
excitement, and she knew how much that train would mean to me. On Christmas
morning the train was there, all laid out on the parlor floor right in front of
the Christmas tree!!!
What
a glorious Christmas morning that was. How ecstatically happy I was. My
Christmas train! I played with it day after day, week after week. I never grew
tired of playing with it. And all the while my Bacchie would watch me while she
rocked in her chair and prayed the rosary.
What
I never knew as a child was that Bacchie paid for the Christmas train. Times
were hard for my parents, and the money for a Christmas train was not to be
had. I remember hearing from my mom only as an adult how Bacchie had gone out
and purchased that train for me. I remember how moved and inspired I was to
learn that.
What
a lesson in true Love it was for me – in unconditional Love. For Bacchie all
that mattered was my happiness. She didn’t need to have me know that she paid
for the Christmas train. It was enough for her to rock and pray and watch me
play with my “miracle gift” on Christmas morning.
And
so the beauty of this person who showed me from my earliest years a Love like
only God can love… I felt that love in her arms, in her embrace – the love I still
feel now in the arms of Mary our Blessed Mother.
It
was in fact one of two of Bacchie’s dying wishes the following year to have my
brother and I brought from school to her hospital bed. It was so she could
embrace us one more time before passing on to Christ. For as long as I live I
will never forget the Love that I felt in that final embrace. It was Divine
Love. It was the Love of Jesus reaching out to me from within her.
Her
other wish? It was the wish to be buried by her husband, a man that abandoned
her and their farm after conceiving twelve children together. He had left her,
but she had never left him. Again her unconditional Love for a man who broke
her heart, mirrored the Love of Christ, mirrored the Love shown forth from the
Cross, a Divine Love, a Love like only God can love. It was that Love in
Bacchie that brought her home to the Lord and to the Heart of the Father. And
it will be a Love like that burning in our hearts which will bring us home to
God as well.
To
all my Facebook friends and to all my LinkedIn colleagues, a most beautiful and
blessed Christmas to you and your loved ones, and may your New Year be filled
with happiness, filled with a Love like only God can love.
In
the Love of Jesus and Mary,
Doug +
