Christmas on the Mountain

I grew up in East Tennessee on top a mountain in Cumberland County.
Like a lot of people around us , we were very poor.
My Mother was a fun person to be around.
She had a great imagination.
One Christmas we didn’t have any present to put under the tree.
That did not stop her from making our Christmas something to remember.
She didn’t want anybody to know about our situation.
She didn’t want people to have pity for us, because we didn’t have any presents.
My mom found a bunch of boxes and wrapped them all up with old wrapping paper that she had saved from the year before.
We had an old aluminum Christmas tree that we decorated so beautifully.
My mother put all those boxes under the tree and she wouldn’t let anybody touch them until Christmas.
Everything was so pretty.
When Christmas came she got the camera out and took pictures of us holding the boxes in front of the tree.
To the world it looked like a normal Christmas.
Little did I know at the time, those boxes may have seemed empty, but they were full!
I bet you can never guess what was in the boxes!!!
They were all filled to the top with a Precious Mothers Love, and the Spirit of Christmas.
Whenever I can, I try to remember how happy my Mother looked in those old pictures.
I realize now, Love is the best gift ever!!!