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The Old Homeplace Looked Dready ...
But It Caused Several Hearts to Glow
By Phil O’Neill
A tall lacy finger of
smoke reached skyward
the old red brick chimney, ob¬
scured by the glack-green
which had become thicker
by year.
The old place looked the
as it had looked for nearly
month of winters, but it
more than just winter. It
Christmas week. And it was
usual, for thefre were no
oi Christmas.
For 27 years the white
board house, wtih its funny
diamond shaped window
had literally shouted
Christmas” with its
In every window there
was a wreath with its tiny
electric candle and the two
umns at the entrance were
twined with laurel rope. And
the front hall, visible from
road, stood the big
tree, glittering with lights
THOSE DARN LIGHTS
Some of the lights were
some ducks, some birds,
blende with them were
of lights which glowed only
all the bulks were good.
On previous Christmas
sons, the woman of the
went through the daily task
seeking out the burned
bulks, screwing in good
until the bad ones were
And as she went from light
i Dade Gas Company
Trenton, Ga.
THE />ADE COtMhr TIMES, TRENTON, GEORGIA, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1959
light, she muttered
about never again buying
other set of lights like
because they were so much
trouble.
But year in, year out, the
were placed on the tree and the
bad bulk search ritual
place.
Inside the house, on all the
previous Christmases, t n e r
were boughs of holly and pine
and mistleto. Benmd pictures,
on the mantle, basked on tne
book cases. And on the bay-
wmaw seat was tne manager
ocene, witn white plaster show¬
ing tnrough the ilecked paint
ox Josephs robe and the kneel¬
ing wise man with a missing
ioot, and the odd little sheep
witn a match-stick for a back
held on by tape.
A SPECIAL MEANING
Why, in Heaven’s name don’t
you get new figures and throw
these old broken nes away,"
they’d ask her.
“It’s not so much how they
look as what they mean,” she
vvuld answer. “And each of these
something special.”
She’d point them out and tell
about why they were broken.
The various children had their
favorites and in helping set
them out, had broken them. Be¬
sides, from a distance, it looked
more natural than the shiny
new ones would look.
The silent man, leaning on
the wrought iron fence mentally
re-lived little sketches of many,
Sheriff
Allison Blevins
Lift up your voice in sons, lift
op your hearts and rejoice
with us at this time when
peace and good will should
reign throughout the Christian
world. Rejoice!
SALLY’S
BEAUTY SHOP
ESSAY WINNER—Miss Carol
Gray wen top honors this year
In the soil conservation essay
ontest for high school students
many Christmas seasons in that
cid house.
As dusk melted into darkness,
he was startled as a light came
on in the drawing room—and it
aired him back into the pre¬
sent.
He wondered if the new fam¬
ily in the house would love it
vs he had.
LINES RECALLED
He had insisted on driving
out to the old place alone, when
he telephoned his wife from the
agency.
He glanced at his watch and
turned away to the car. And as
he drove back into the city he
had many thoughts. He recalled
the lines from a classic he had
read in Modern Lit 403 at col¬
lege that went something like
“Miissinig a loved one need not
be sad, for its joy to remember
their good deeds,” Or is that
what his mother had told him
as she lay dying last summer?
He wasn’t sure whether she
said it, or if he had read it.
As he turned into the drive¬
way, the porch light flashed on
and as he walked up the steps,
his wef said, “Thank goodsess
you’re home, I’ve worried.
You’re late.”
COFFEE REFUSED
As he removed his coat, she
poured hot coffee and smiled as
she handed it to him.
She was startled when he re¬
fused it.
“Not now,” he said, then
asked her to bring is the child¬
ren as he cleared the hearth
stone of its brass ornaments
and wicker magazine basket.
He went to the basement and
returend with a box and as the
children and his wife sat about
the fireplace he told the story
of Christmas, as he placed each
little figure in its proper place.
When he had finished, he led
the group in a simple sentence
To oil we have served
during the past year
and all those we hope
to serve in the coming
year we extend our best
wishes for 19v0.
MILLIE BALLARD
GROCERY
Avans, Georgia
ISSEIM#
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• 6 - / /1 \ i - k . i i
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til 336 cuui L..j u
rejoice snsw at the eternal
glory anj beauty of His birth
ano all It means to men every¬
where.
Grace H. Williams
Clerk of Court
prayer and the somewhat
amazed children then trecked
back upstairs. His wife looked at
him through misty eyes and
smiled, “That’s just the way she
always did it. It was beautiful.
But tomorrow, I’m going to buy (
a complete new set, these ...”
He interrupted, “It’s not so
much how they look as what
they mean.”
SIPS COLD COFFEE
As he sipped the cold coffee
he yelled to his wife, who had
gone to the kitchen to bring in
their dinner, “It was a classic
that I read it and it goes: ‘The
mountain to the climber Is
clearer from the plain.’ ”
She stuck her head into the
room and said, “Yes, I remem¬
ber that, it’s from that book I
gave your mother last Christ¬
mas . . . the one she was read¬
ing on the night she died."
He felt warm and pleased
with himself that he could
remember so much that was
good.
We wish you, your family
and our many friends the
traditional joys of an old-
fashioned! Christmas.
and Mrs.
Arthur W. Peck
Fuel Oil for
Heating
R. W. Suggs & Son
Standard Oil
Products
Glad greetings
and best wishes
for the Holiday.
Smyth
T elevision
Service
Ham & Turkey Shoot
Russell Hester’s Farm
Rising- Fawn
Dec. 24-25
Free shells $1 per shot
Everyone welcome
/. V. Jenkins
County Treasurer