Christmas Day
The following day was no better than the proceeding one. I had had a restless night what with all the commotion that had occurred with the parent. I was hoping to start a new day, but their (both parents) attitudes towards me were harsh and very critical. So I had no chance of beginning anew. The time of opening the presents became a competition to see who had bought the most junk – you would have thought we were a family of 10, not a family of 5 based on the amount of presents there were. Most of them were junk with no practical purpose behind them. The materialism did well to diminish the meaning of Christmas — that is the Celebration of the Birth of Christ.
After presents, the next two hours were something of a blur. Guests were coming over for dinner and I was not permitted to help with dinner. I don’t honestly remember what I did to occupy time. When dinner was ready, and our guest had arrived, you would never have known that the day had been filled with stress and critical attitudes. Pleasant faces and false compliments were overflowing from the hosts.
The roasted chicken (I believe that is what we ate), was very good with fresh vegetables from the garden prepared just so, and a fabulous white wine that accompanied the meal. I think there might have even been breaded noodles (a family favorite), on the table. My parent had always been a very good cook, and growing up, my friends always sought after a dinner invitation as they claimed my parent was truly a gourmet cook! So eating such good food was nothing out of the ordinary for me… until…
I began to notice that the flavors of the meal were really standing-out in a way they’ve never done before. I think I might have even commented on that and it was joined in by others at the table. Then I started to notice something else… I was finding it increasingly difficult to keep my eyes open. Now, if we were eating turkey, I might not have been so suspicious, but we were eating chicken. I ate every bite on my plate, but refused seconds as I was saving room for dessert, chocolate cream pie (another family favorite). My fatigue was increasing so I excused myself and went upstairs to lie down for a little while.
As I made my way up the stairs I began to lose my balance and almost went backwards on the stairs. However, one of my guardian angles literally stood behind me and pushed me forward. No one got up from their chair to assist me.
I went into the bedroom and laid down on the bed. I noticed my heart was racing, but I really didn’t think too much about it. I also noticed that my head was spinning… then the other parent called me down for desert. I carefully got up, made my way back down stairs (don’t ask me how for I do not know), and sat down to a dessert already prepared for me. Coffee was in the cup with cream and sugar and a slice of chocolate cream pie was before me. I thanked them for their consideration in preparing the cup of coffee, checked the sweetness, found it good and began eating my slice of pie.
I was only part way through when I began to BLACK OUT. Suddenly breathing was a chore and the dizziness from earlier had increased considerably. Unable to finish either my coffee or my pie, I excused myself again and made it up the stairs (angels were there all the way!), and this time when I laid down I promptly passed out!
I remembered waking up a couple of times to someone talking to me. I think my sister came in to check on me. I don’t remember responding much to her question… Somewhere in that time span I had managed to change into pjs from my church dress. Truly, all that night was something of a blurr. It was the next morning that surprised me and even a couple of parents…
When I awoke, I was perfectly awake AND feeling perfectly fine, except for a lingering warning-bell that seemed to continuously go off in my head as I quickly dressed and gathered my few belongings. I noticed that my sister was no where in sight. I proceeded to make my way to the stairs with the persistent warning that I should get home as soon as possible. It was at that moment, as I began my decent down the stairs, that both parents looked up, and I saw a DISTINCT look of SURPRISE on BOTH faces.
Mind you, the parent who had perpetrated the dinner from the night before was far more surprised than the parent who did nothing to prevent it. They quickly returned to reading the paper. But my other parent could not take their wide-eyes off me. That’s when the warning-bell became a VERY LOUD TRUMPET WARNING, and my angels said in succession: Do not let them prepare you breakfast…do not let them prepare you a drink…do not sit long in their company…get out as fast as you can!
Sure enough, THE parent asked if they could make me breakfast… I politely refused. They asked if they could make me some coffee or tea and I replied I’d just have some water… They then invited me to sit with them, but I sat at the counter separating the kitchen from the dining room. There I quickly ate my cereal and drank my water and asked my other parent if my sister was available to drive me home. They said no, she wasn’t. I then asked them to take me home as soon as possible. One parent said we could leave within the hour…I asked if we could leave within 20 minutes… God intervened… and they agreed. At first my OTHER parent declined to come along… then later as the car was ready to leave they announced they “would come along for the drive”.
It is here that I am going to stop… the events that followed must be told in succession and with the greatest care. Because what happened next were the second and third miracles that lead to so much growth (and later forgiveness) that has led me to become the person I am today.
To Be Continued…
Previous Posts:
Healing Begins
Part 3 Continues…
Importance of Reconciliation
In Between Things
Nitty-Gritty
Living in the Two Hearts 
