This children’s story by Pastor Brooks was told over the course of Advent and came to a conclusion on Christmas Eve.
Part One
Once upon a time, there was a beautiful little girl with big eyes and a big heart. Her name was Chloe. She had two very loving parents who had come upon hard times.
Shortly before Thanksgiving both of them lost their jobs. For ten years, they had both worked for a store called Huge Deals. It was a huge store that claimed to give the best deals in town. Unfortunately, they did not always give the best deal to their workers. A headline on the front of the local newspaper read, “Huge Deals Cuts Workers to Cut Costs.” Chloe could not understand why her parents had to lose their jobs, but she could understand that without jobs her parents had no money and without money they could no longer pay for their apartment. They could not even pay for their food!
For this reason, on a cold December day, Chloe and her parents moved in with Grandpaw Willie. Chloe loved her Grandpaw Willie, and normally she loved visiting him, even though one of her moms said his place was a mess. Chloe did not care. She loved the mess! Grandpaw Willie’s place was full of what he called “collectables and antiques.” Chloe just thought it was old stuff that was really cool. Grandpaw Willie had everything from miniature doll houses to samurai swords. His house was so full of stuff piled on piles in each and every room that one could hardly walk around his house. One had to walk a crooked path to make it from one place to the next. Whenever they visited, Chloe would spend hours discovering one treasure after another without ever leaving a single room.
As fun as it was to visit Grandpaw Willie, Chloe felt sad on that cold December day they moved into his house. She missed her family having a place of their own. She missed her room. She missed their neighbor’s cat, and she missed her best friend Sam who lived across the street. Alone she sat in her new bedroom surrounded by Grandpaw Willie’s stuff. She was feeling so down and depressed that she was no longer interested in any of it, not even the giant gumball machine.
While her head was hanging down, she heard a knock on the door. It was Grandpaw Willie. “Hello there Snookums!” he called out. “Hi,” mumbled Chloe. “I heard you are feeling blue,” said Grandpaw Willie. “Yeah,” mumbled Chloe. “Whenever I am feeling blue, I listen to music,” said Grandpaw Willie. “Better yet I play some music,” he added. “I can’t play any music,” mumbled Chloe. “I bet I can teach you in one hour,” said Grandpaw Willie, “and I bet you will be feeling much better by the end of that hour.” “Yeah,” mumbled Chloe. “Yeah,” said Grandpaw Willie.
“In order for me to teach you, I first need you to go get the Christmas harp,” said Grandpaw Willie. “Can you go get it for me?” he asked. “I guess so,” mumbled Chloe. “It’s up in the attic on top of a pile,” said Grandpaw Willie. Slowly, Chloe got up and mopped her way to the door and then mopped her way to the stairs and then mopped her way to the attic. “This place is a mess,” said Chloe as she looked around. Her eyes went from pile to pile looking for anything that might be a sign of the Christmas harp. Eventually, she found it. In the back of the attic, there was a pile of stuff that was taller than any other pile of stuff. It reached all the way up to the ceiling. There at the top was a dusty brown box that said “Christmas Harp” in fancy red letters. Fortunately, there just happened to be a small kitchen ladder next to the pile. She climbed up the ladder and brought down the box. Carefully, she opened it up, and there she saw the Christmas harp. “This is cool,” she thought.
She took the harp downstairs to Grandpaw Willie, and in no time at all, he taught her play. It was easy. In less than an hour, she learned how to play a Christmas song. The name of the song was “O Come All Ye Faithful.” It was a song about visiting Jesus after he was born in Bethlehem. It was a wonderful song, and before she knew it, Chloe felt happy for the first time that day.
Part Two
The day after Chloe learned how to play the harp she woke up and decided to explore among all the piles of stuff in her room. In one pile, there were Spider-Man comics from the 1960s and 70s. In another pile, there were Donald Duck posters. What interested Chloe the most was a box full of letters. Each letter was written to someone called “Mon Cher Pepe.” They were written by someone called “Ton Ange.” Mon and Ton sounded like unusual names. From the handwriting and the comments in the letter about no longer wearing make up, Chloe concluded that Ton was a woman. In the letters, Ton wrote of feeding and teaching children in a city called Port au Prince. The children were very hungry and in need of food. Through her work, Ton was literally saving lives. At a local church, Ton served breakfast and lunch to the children everyday. She also taught the children to read French and plant vegetables in a garden just for kids. Chloe read through all of the letters eagerly until she got to the last letter in the pile. In that letter, Ton was devastated. She had just learned that the storage room of the church had been robbed. They could buy more food, but they would not be able to buy enough to last until Christmas. Chloe was alarmed. What was going to happen if there was no food for the children?
Chloe was so upset by the idea of these children not being fed that she ran through the house yelling. “Grandpaw Willie, Grandpaw Willie!” When she finally reached him, she said, “We have to find out what happened to the kids. Those rotten, evil robbers stole all their food. We have to find out if they got any food to eat.” “Wo, slow down little one,” said Grandpaw Willie. “What’s going on?” Chloe explained the letters that she found and how Ton said that the children might not have enough food to last until Christmas. “We have to find out what happened next. They need that food to survive” said Chloe. “There’s no more letters,” she explained. Grandpaw Willie looked amused. “Gosh,” said Grandpaw Willie. “I believe the rest of those letters got destroyed in the flood of ’98.” Chloe was distressed. “But how am I ever going to find out what happened?” she asked.
Grandpaw Willie looked like he was thinking hard, and he said, “I think I know someone who can tell you. In fact, I think Ton herself can tell you. Why don’t I invite Ton over here for Christmas Eve?” “Wow,” said Chloe. “Could you really do that?” “Certainly,” said Grandpaw Willie. “Cool!” said Chloe. Then she asked, “Hey, can you tell me anything about what Ton is like?” “She’s like an angel,” answered Grandpaw Willie. “Why do you say that?” said Chloe. “Angels are those who bring God’s love into the world, and Ton certainly did that,” replied Grandpaw Willie. “You know you even remind me a little bit of Ton,” he added. Chloe looked dumbfounded. Was she really like Ton who did so much to help so many kids? “Tomorrow I will tell you more about her and how she became an angel,” said Grandpaw Willie. “It’s important for understanding what happened to the children.”
Part Three
The next day Chloe and Grandpaw Willie were at the kitchen table having milk and micro-waved chocolate chip cookies before Chloe went to bed. The table was full of antique tin boxes that once held crackers. Chloe and Grandpaw Willie could just barely see each other’s faces between the tins of Jacob’s Cream Crackers and Barnum’s Animal Crackers. As Chloe picked up a cookie, she reminded Grandpaw Willie of his promise to tell her more about Ton.
“Ah, yes,” said Grandpaw Willie, “I know the story of Ton very well. From an early age, Ton’s family recognized that Ton was musically talented. They supported her in taking both piano and singing lessons. She wanted to be able to do both at the same time. She dreamed of winning talent contests, and after lots of practice, she did. She won so many ribbons and trophies it filled up a room. She was even Miss Buttercup of the Year after winning the National Buttercup Contest. Before American Idol, everyone wanted to be a Buttercup. All who heard Ton agreed that she was a rising star who had a bright future in front of her…but then life became difficult. Ton’s mom became very ill, and her dad could no longer pay for her lessons because they had to pay for her mom’s medicine. Ton continued to practice on her own, but as her mom became more and more sick, she gradually lost interest and practiced less and less until she almost stopped playing altogether.” Grandpaw Willie looked really sad when he told this part of the story, but then he continued.
“It looked like Ton would never play music again, but then something special happened. Do you know what that was?” asked Grandpaw Willie. “No,” said Chloe. “Christmas happened!” exclaimed Grandpaw Willie. He then explained, “When it was getting closer and closer to Christmas, Ton’s family decided they needed to do something fun to bring some holiday cheer into their household. They asked Ton’s mother what she would like them to do. She said that more than anything else what she wanted for Christmas was for her family to do a Christmas music concert. Ton came up with the idea of calling it a Christmas Music Spectacular. It would star none other than Miss Buttercup herself. From that day on, Ton began practicing music again. Over and over she practiced singing her mother’s favorite Christmas songs. Her mother especially loved the song ‘Joy to the World.’ Just before Christmas, Ton’s family invited all of their friends and neighbors over to their house. Ton’s mother was so sick, she couldn’t leave her bed, so everyone crowded into her room and they listened to the Christmas Music Spectacular starring Miss Buttercup. I was lucky enough to be there,” said Grandpaw Willie. “It was one of the best music performances I have ever heard. Ton was truly spectacular.”
Grandpaw Willie paused and said, “Ton learned a valuable lesson that day. It was a lesson that she would remember when she was later in Haiti and was devastated after all their food was stolen, but I think I will let Ton tell you about that when she visits on Christmas Eve.”
Part Four
Chloe and Grandpaw Willie prepared for the arrival of Ton on Christmas Eve by making Spiced Eggnog. Grandpaw Willie had a secret recipe that he said he would share with only one person and that was Chloe. The eggnog was made with ingredients Chloe loved like ice cream and ginger ale, but to give it an extra kick they added cinnamon and cloves with a half a cup of lemon juice. At six o’clock, the doorbell rang. “That must be Ton,” yelled Grandpaw Willie from the back of the house. Chloe raced to the door darting from left to right in order to step around various antiques and collectibles like the suit of armor from16th century Spain.
As she placed her hand on the doorknob, Chloe took a deep breath to compose herself before opening the door. When she swung the door open, she was both surprised and disappointed. “Mom?” she said. “What are you doing ringing the doorbell?” asked Chloe. “I was hoping you might be able to tell me the same thing,” said Chloe’s mom. “Your grandpaw told me I needed to be home by 6 pm and that I needed to ring the doorbell.” Just then, both Chloe and her mom heard a deep chuckle from behind them. Grandpaw Willie was laughing. “What’s so funny, Grandpaw?” said Chloe. “Well,” said Grandpaw Willie, “Chloe meet Ton, and Ton meet Chloe.” Chloe blurted out, “What? Mom is Ton, but that’s not mom’s name. Mom’s name is Renee.” Chloe’s mom looked equally confused by what was going on. She did not know why Grandpaw Willie was calling her Ton.
“Why don’t you go get those letters, Chloe, and we will get to the bottom of this,” said Grandpaw Willie. Turning to his daughter, he then said, “Renee, we have some Spiced Eggnog for you in the living room. Come on back.”
In the living room, Chloe placed the letters on the coffee table. With Grandpaw Willie’s urging, she showed one of them to her mom. Her mom recognized the letter but still did not understand what was going on. “Look at the end of the letter,” said Grandpaw Willie. There she saw how the letter was signed “Ton Ange,” and then she smiled. She understood now. She looked at Chloe and explained, “This letter was written by me. I wrote it when I lived in Haiti. In Haiti, the people speak French, so I would sign my letters ‘Ton Ange’ which in French means ‘Your Angel.’ ” Chloe looked at her with disbelief. “Why would you call yourself that?” she asked.
“I called myself that,” Chloe’s mom explained, “because your grandfather always liked to call me his angel. These letters were written to your grandfather.” Chloe looked even more confused now. “But the letters say they are written to someone named Mon Cher Pepe,” she said. “In French,” said Chloe’s mom, “Mon Cher is used at the beginning of letters. It means ‘My dear.’ ‘Pepe’ is an affectionate way of referring to one’s father. It can also mean ‘old man’ or ‘grandpaw.’ ”
Now Chloe was beginning to understand. She then looked at her mom with skepticism and said, “You were Miss Buttercup?!” Chloe’s mom looked at her grandpaw and back at Chloe before she nodded her head with a smile and said, “Yes, I was Miss Buttercup. I had almost forgotten.” Chloe was indignant, “How could you forget that? You should have told me that you were Miss Buttercup. That’s like winning the American Idol.”
Chloe’s mom laughed, and said, “I suppose it was.” Chloe’s face then became very serious. “Mom,” she said, “you have to tell me what happened to the children. Grandpaw lost the rest of the letters in the flood of ’98. All I know is that in the last letter we have you were afraid the children would run out of food by Christmas day because some evil thieves stole all that food from the church.”
“Ah, yes,” said Chloe’s mom, and just then her eyes landed upon the Christmas Harp that was next to Chloe’s chair. With a smile, she pointed to the harp and said, “That harp right there is an important part of the story. I can tell you all about what happened to those children, but first let’s have some Spiced Eggnog.”
Part Five
After they had all had a cup of Spiced Eggnog, Chloe’s mom nodded to the Christmas Harp next to Chloe. She said, “That harp was the first musical instrument that I ever had. Your grandpaw gave that to me for Christmas when I was young. My mother always enjoyed hearing me play it, and I would play until bedtime every night. Later I would play the piano, but that harp was always a reminder of not only how my mom and dad had supported and encouraged me in my music but also of how much they loved me. For that reason, I took it with me to Haiti, even though it was not at all practical to pack in a suitcase. Every once and awhile I would play it when I was feeling down in the dumps and needed some music to lift my spirits.
I sure was down in the dumps after the food was stolen. The theft was devastating for the whole church. No one could believe that someone would steal food from poor children. In order to figure out what to do, we held a community meeting. At the meeting, the parents of the children proposed that they have a giant talent show after the service on Christmas Eve to raise money. The children would be the ones to perform. The children were indeed talented. I knew from seeing and hearing them that many of them could sing and dance as well as recite poetry and tell jokes. Because Christmas was coming, I suggested to the community that we call the talent show ‘A Christmas Music Spectacular.’ ”
“Like the one you did for your mom,” exclaimed Chloe. Chloe’s mother smiled and looked at Grandpaw Willie. “Yes, like the one we did for my mom,” she said. She then continued, “The children were all very excited about it, and so was I. I was particularly excited about the music that would be performed. I knew from the Christmas Music Spectacular we did for my mom that music is one of the most valuable gifts we can share with others. Christmas music in particular has the power to go deep into one’s heart to spread the joy and warmth of the season. The theft of the food had kept people from feeling the Christmas spirit, so I knew this talent show was exactly what was needed.
“But not everyone was excited about the talent show. After class one day, a young girl named Louise came to me and said that she felt bad because she didn’t have any talents she could share at the talent show. I knew Louise was a wonderful child and had to have some talents, but I also knew she was very shy. She would never do anything that involved singing, dancing, or speaking. I then told her to meet me after class the next day, and we would solve her problem. In the end, we more than solved her problem. Louise became the star attraction of the whole talent show. She was the final act before a church filled with people. At the very end of the show, we turned off the lights, and we had everyone light a candle. It was then that Louise played ‘Silent Night’ on the Christmas Harp. She played it beautifully. By the end of her performance, there wasn’t a dry eye in the church. Her song had made its way deep into each of our hearts.
“That night we raised lots of money and people donated lots of food, but what was most amazing occurred the next morning on Christmas Day. As soon as the sun rose, everyone on the street was talking excitedly with one another as they pointed to the church. There on the front steps of the church was all of the food that had been stolen. At the very top of the pile was a note. It read, ‘The gift of a child opened my heart to Christmas. Please thank the girl who played “Silent Night.” And that Chloe is the story of what happened after the children had all their food stolen.” Chloe had never heard a better Christmas story.
The end.