It's that Time of Year Again.

Two Young Men With Questions

           Two young men, who look like and in fact are brothers, are sitting in a bar drinking beer the afternoon before Christmas day. They have been quiet for most of their time there, but it is now time for both of them to speak out about what was definitely on both of their minds. They had to make a decision.

           “Well, it’s that time of year again. Are you ready for the ‘Big Event’ Bob?

           “Well, Stan, I don’t think that I am ever completely ready for it, but I don’t want to disappoint the elders by not participating, even though it involves a silly rock.”

           “Well, one day we will be the elders, and may feel the same way.”

           “I don’t know that I would go that far, but you never can tell what age does to your brain, can you?”

           “Nope. You sure can’t.”

The Thoughts in Bob’s Mind

           The timing this year is bad. My relationship with Sue does not seem to be going well. And I know that Christmas is a big deal with her. I should be with her today, not with my family. And I still haven’t been able to find a decent Christmas present for her. Getting her a purse is probably not the best Christmas idea that I have ever had. I wish there were advisors on ‘what to get your girlfriend for Christmas if you want the relationship to last’. I would pay for such advice.

Two Older Men with Questions

           “It’s that time of year again Frank. I can’t wait to be with family and do what we always do on this day.”

           “I am thinking the same way Ralph. I wonder whether my boys will be feeling that way too. They didn’t look very happy last year.”

           “I wonder about that too. Hopefully that will change. They’ll mature and see things our way.”

Two Women with Questions

           “Do you ever ask yourself how the straight family we married into does this one strange thing?”

           “I certainly do. I ask myself that every year at this time. I just don’t ask that of the men that we married.”

The Ritual Begins

           All six of them are ready now to participate in the family Christmas Eve ritual, the two older men being actually looking forward to it as they do every year.  Ralph is particularly excited, as it is his year to carry the prized item. The women go along with it, as their husbands are so ‘into it’. The boys rather resent it, particularly Bob, who can only think of the girlfriend he is not with, wondering whether he will lose her sometime soon.

           They all walk in a line, with Ralph leading the way. In his right hand he is carrying as old Seagram’s blue/purple bag (he was never sure which colour the faded old bag was). In it was the gift he had managed to find this year after some searching. It was a light purple. It was the gift they gave every year.

           The path that they are walking on is not well-trodden. There had been a major snow fall two days before, and almost no one had walked through the forest since. Finally, after much trudging, they arrive at the stream, across which was their destination, within sight. 

           There hadn’t been much cold weather so far that winter, so there was no ice thick enough for walking across the stream. They would have to jump over it.

Oops

           Ralph goes for a run of very short steps leading to his leap. He does not quite make it, and falls over backwards, dropping the contents of the bag while so doing. Stan and Bob reach over to haul him out of the water. While Bob is in the crouched position, he sees the prize that had fallen out of the bag. He surprises himself by rolling up the right-hand sleeve of his bush jacket, and reaching down into the freezing cold water to retrieve it. Unexpectedly he doesn’t just feel the cold of the water, but a kind of inner warmth concerning having done something good.  And for the first time, he saw the beauty of the gift stones. He had more or less ignored them before.

           When Ralph is able to stand up again, Bob goes to hand him over the prize. Ralph says, “No, you have earned the right to present the prize gift.”

The Ceremony

           They find an easier place to cross the creek, and make their way to their destination with no further mishaps. There is a marble gravestone there, behind which are the remaining logs from what used to be part of the house that the couple underneath the gravestone had lived in. Bob has seen the ritual many times, so bends down on one knee and places the light purple stone, a piece of amethyst, in front of the gravestone. He remembers the story of how the couple, his great grandparents, had experienced nothing but bad luck when they began their stay there, so much so that his great-grandfather did not have the money to buy his wife a decent Christmas present. Then, on the day before Christmas he spotted a piece of amethyst in the stream, and decided that this beautiful stone would be a good present for his lovely wife. His wife accepted it with a smile and a hug. 

           Their luck changed after that. They became very successful in their farming. Every Christmas he gave his wife a piece of amethyst, being able to buy one now that they were prospering, although he still preferred to look for one in a likely place first.

           Everyone in the family had heard the story over and over again, so when the old couple died and were buried beside their old home, Bob’s father’s parents decided that they should maintain the Christmas tradition of the presenting of the stone. 

            Thinking about this gives Bob an idea, the like of which he had never had before. He had routinely referred to the prize as ‘just some silly rock’ for years. He would have to ask his parents’ and uncle and aunt’s permission first. He speaks up boldly before anyone goes back across the stream. “I have to ask you something. I don’t have a decent Christmas present to give to my girlfriend Sue. I would like to tell her our family story and then give her one of these beautiful stones.  I have a feeling that she would really appreciate such a gift, much more than the purse that I foolishly bought her.  I will buy or find another amethyst later and replace the one that I give Sue. What do you say?”

           Everyone says yes, like Bob thinking that a present with a story such as this would be well-received by Sue. His mother and aunt reassure him on that point, and they would be right.