A Little Girl's Christmas Wish

Today was exactly the type of day we moved home for. Yesterday and this morning we got pummeled with snow, and tonight was crystal clear and cold (16 degrees!) and white about everywhere you looked. The kids went sledding earlier in the day, and then we had Grandma and Grandpa Bailey over for dinner (Indian Food!). After dinner the kids, (including Keegan) danced energetically to "Linus and Lucy," that absolutely perfect jazz piano number from a Charlie Brown Christmas, after which we all read Christmas stories together.

Among the stories we read, my favorite was "A Christmas Dress for Ellen" by Thomas Monson (chokes me up every time). Kate focused on "Christmas in the Trenches" by James McCutcheon. It recounts a Christmas Eve early in World War I, when British troops, huddled in their frozen, wet trenches, hear a beautifully rendered Christmas carol, floating across no man's land, sung in German. When it stopped, they returned the favor, singing "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen." Towards the end of that song, a lone figure, waiving a white flag, is seen walking across no man's land from the other side. A British soldier leaps out of their trenches to meet him, and soon they are joined by several others from both sides. They exchange small gifts, play a soccer game, and sing Silent Night together. Then as the morning is about to break, they return to their trenches, and all continues as it was before.

It may seem like an unusual choice for Kate, but she remembered a story we had told her some time ago, about my Great Grandpa Ludlum, who had served in World War I and had been gassed with mustard gas while in those trenches. He survived the initial attack, but his lungs were so scarred and burned that he lived for only a year or two after the War, with the result that my Grandma Winnie was an only child.

Some time after dinner was over, and everyone else had gone home or gone to bed, I came upon Kate, reading the story again, tears welling up in her big brown eyes. I asked if she was O.K. and she replied that she was just thinking about Great, Great Grandpa Ludlum, and all those people in the trenches. She wished "that he hadn't had to die that way, and that people would just stop fighting wars and keep singing Christmas songs." She wanted to know if he was in heaven, and if she would ever be able to see him so that she could hug him. We hugged for a long time -- she is so special.

It made me think about what the world would be like if it was ruled by little girls. Everyone would have to have a tender heart. There would be no wars. You could always stay up as late as you want to listening to music and reading and talking to friends, and you'd get to sleep in too. Ice cream would be a health food. Everyone would be fashionably appointed. Barbie would always find Ken, they would always have true love (and many children), and they would always be together. Best of all, there would be lots of hugging to go around.

So my Christmas wish for all is a world ruled by little girls. May sound silly, but I think we would be in very good hands. Merry Christmas everyone.