He asked me to put some pictures on a stick for him.  Said he wanted pictures of Papa Jim and Mama Alice.  Pictures of our sons.  Pictures of their wives.  Pictures of all eleven of our grandchildren.  And could I please do this favor for him without asking questions?  And have it ready by tomorrow?

I dutifully did as I was told.  While sorting through piles of pictures, I found some wonderful ones of Dan, Tim, and David.  Some perfect ones of their wives.  Terrific grandchildren pictures.  And I also found some memorable photos of Guy, and Francis, and Doris, and Joseph.  Along with their spouses.  And those adorable black grandchildren of ours.  Couldn't resist giving them all to him.  After all, our family spans the ocean.

Well, they broke all the rules.  Did what they are NEVER supposed to do.  They gave us a Christmas present.  After all the special music.  After Papa Jim read the  Christmas story to us.  At the very end of a wonderful program, they presented a rather large gift warped package to us.  We opened it amidst protests.  Reminded them they weren't supposed to do this.  But when the paper came off, we instantly forgave them!  They had put together a beautiful collage of all the pictures of our family.  Of our white family and of our black family.  They had it made up at this shop in town that does top notch work.  Wow!  What a gift!  What memories!  What a treasure!  Now to find the perfect spot to hang it here at Shiloh.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.