JOURNEY TO CHRISTMAS: Bank & Birthdays

Marcia Norwood
America's STORYTELLER
Telling Untold Stories in Photographs, Prose and Public Speaking

2013 JOURNEY TO CHRISTMAS:

 Bank & Birthdays

Ever wonder where Santa does his banking?

Do you have a Christmas Birthday?

 Today's true story is from my friend, Diane.

Diane and I grew up in Liberty, Missouri.

We graduated in 1967, from Liberty High School.

Diane and Her Grandson.  Copyright 2013 Diane Cottingham Justice

 Thank you, Diane, for sharing your wit and wisdom!

Santa's Bank & Christmas Birthdays

I didn't think I had a Christmas story to share until your Santa blog made me remember this. 

We moved to the little town of Calais, Maine, when my son, London, was five and my daughter, Alexis was three years old.

 Calais, Maine

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http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?_adv_prop=image&fr=mcafee&va=Calais%2C+Maine

 A man who worked at the Machias branch of our little bank had the white hair & beard and other physical attributes of Santa. 

He would dress up and visit our branch once a year to see the lucky children of customers. 

I told my children that our bank was the closest to the North Pole and Santa came there to do his US banking. 

Machias, Maine 

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http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?_adv_prop=image&fr=mcafee&va=machias+maine

Because it was a little town, he could remember the children from year to year, and call them by name. He commented on how they had grown.  

He remembered that our daughter, Alexis, was born on Christmas Day, and talked to her about the privilege of sharing a birthday with Jesus. 

Because of him, my children really believed. Other children would try to enlighten them, but they knew better.

Alexis and London Justice.  Copyright 2013 Diane Cottingham Justice

My mother's birthday is the day after Christmas and she gave my daughter, Alexis, an article by Erma Bombeck about Christmas birthdays.

By

 Diane Cottingham Justice

THANK YOU, Diane, for sharing your story.

Erma Bombeck was one of my favorite writers!

Where Did Christmas Go?
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Erma Bombeck 

http://www.milkyspit.com/articles/bombeck-where-did-christmas-go.html

2-for-1 HOLIDAY OFFER: CHRISTMAS BIRTHDAYS BY ERMA BOMBECK   Happy Birthday, Jesus - and Aunt Martha and my cousin Dede, and everyone else that was born on this day. The savior excepted, I think I know what the rest of you birthday babies are thinking. All your gifts are wrapped in Christmas paper - as usual. Most of the family has already whispered in your ear, "I bought you one BIG gift for both occasions." Your Christmas cards have a P.S. on them: "Happy Birthday." Your favorite cake is chocolate but you will get a white one with white icing, trimmed in red. If you hear one more person say, "What a bummer to be born on Christmas," you'll slap him. There are never any balloons on this day, only reindeer and poinsettias. You are rarely surrounded by your friends at a party because they are at home celebrating Christmas. My gift to you is a birthday column that is for people born on this day. Why do you suppose you were chosen to share the most celebrated birthday in the history of Christianity? There are 364 other days to choose from, but you were chosen to enter the world on a day when peace and joy reign. It's the best time to enter a world. Truces are sometimes called during wars - old prejudices and hatreds are put aside - and people who have never done so before reach out to one another. No one could plan a bigger celebration of your birth. The streets are lined with Christmas greenery. Houses glow in the light of a million candles, and the anticipation of the day is almost more than a child can stand. Whenever I hear of a person born on Christmas, he becomes special to me. Babies are always gifts, but to have an infant placed in your arms on this anniversary cannot help but invite memories of Mary holding her newborn for the first time with no less wonderment. I think Christmas babies feel it too. Their birthday culminates in a season of magic. There has been no Bozo the clown doing magic tricks, no catered party complete with noisemakers, no planes in the sky spelling out their names in smoke. It is a day when the world turns kind. I share a birthday in February with Rue McClanahan and Tyne Daly. It doesn't get a whole lot of attention...but then Silent Night, Holy Night is not our birthday song.

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Thanks for stopping by!

Come back often, and invite a friend!

Marcia Norwood
America's STORYTELLER
Telling Untold Stories in Photographs, Prose and Public Speaking

http://tellmeastory-marcia.blogspot.com/