"A Simple Gesture"
Written by Lily Wong
It was a beautiful night out in Ireland. It looked like a winter wonderland. Everything was covered in white, and everything sparkled. In the dark, cool, crisp night, with the stars twinkling above and the moon shining bright, Jack swore that he could see fairies dancing between the bushes. There was no doubt that the night was magical. He could feel it in his bones that something spectacular was waiting for him. It was as if God had known his intentions that day and had blessed his journey. The landscape that he was looking at seemed as though it had come right from God's canvas; maybe it was a sign that he was going the right way. Breaking away from the picturesque sight, he trudged on. The night was wearing away quickly, and he had to find shelter soon. As he walked, he thought about what had happened earlier on in the day.
It was Christmas Eve, and he was not in a nice, warm comfortable bed like he was supposed to be. In fact, he was trying to leave that nice, warm comfortable bed. He was going to run away, run far away, where no one could make him stay in that horrid orphanage. Well, the truth was, there was nothing wrong with the orphanage. They didn't treat him badly, he always had enough to eat, and there was always a nice bed waiting for him at the end of the day. The only problem was - he didn't want to be there. No one was going to adopt him. He was twelve years old already, and no body wanted a twelve-year-old kid. They all wanted to adopt cute, little toddlers or babies, so he was out on his own. He had gotten an idea in his head on one of those days where you just sit around, waiting for something to happen. That idea had been brewing in the back of his mind for quite awhile until finally he decided to do something about it. Now, he was on a quest to find his childhood home, the house that his family had lived in for 9 years of his life, the house where he grew up, the house where he last saw his father.
Jack sighed. It felt as if it had just gotten colder. "I wonder if I'm doing the right thing." he wondered out loud. "Brr...it's so cold...I don't even think that I can feel my feet anymore! I'm tired, cold, and wet." he muttered. "And hungry." he added as an afterthought. So spying a tree stump in the distance, he started walking faster. When he got there, he plopped himself down, took off his shoes, and began to rub his feet up and down because they were numb from the cold. While his hands were busy trying to bring back feeling into his legs, his mind was wandering back to the last time he saw his father.
It was a week from Christmas, the year that he was nine, when he last saw his father. Their small house had been decorated festively from ceiling to floor. He was sitting next to the fire waiting for his father to come home, he remembered. When his father did arrive, he had jumped up from his seat and had rushed to greet him. Afterwards, they had a quiet dinner. That night, before he drifted off to sleep, his father had come in and had asked to speak with him.
"Son, there's something that I've got to tell you." Arthur McKree said quietly to his little boy.
Jack sat up, worried about the tone that his father was speaking in. "What is it, Dad? Did something happen at work?" he asked his father anxiously.
"Well, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. You see, there is no more work. I've been fired. Apparently, the boss didn't like the way that I've been working lately. He told me that I've been doing things sloppily." Arthur said in a dejected matter. This would be the third job that he'd been fired from in 5 months. It wasn't because he wasn't a skilled worker because he was. The problem was that he had been drinking lately, and not matter what, it didn't seem like he would be able to quit the habit.
"Aw Dad, it's ok. You'll find another job soon, don't worry. We'll just have to make do with what we have. Look on the bright side, it's almost Christmas!" Jack said with a beaming face. Nothing could be more exciting to a little kid than Christmas.
Arthur had to smile at the optimistic views of his son, but that smile slowly faded away as he thought about how he was going to support their little family for the next month or so. "Jack, you just remember that your old man loves you, ok? You got that? I would give up the world for you." he said as he got up to leave the room.
"Sure Dad. I love you too. Good night." Jack replied with a yawn as he tucked himself back into bed. His father stood in the doorway for a moment watching over his son before he turned away and left. The next morning, Jack found his father's body hanging from a tree. He had hanged himself. The police arrived half an hour later to find a little boy sitting on the ground staring at his father's body. He found out later that his father had gotten drunk again and had in his despair, committed suicide.
"Why Dad? You said that you would give up the world for me...instead you gave up your life. That's not what I wanted. Why? WHY!?" Jack sobbed. He was taken to the orphanage that day, the orphanage that would be his home for the next three years.
Breaking away from his memories, Jack returned to the present. "Time to move on." he sighed as he stood up and stretched. That being said, Jack continued to walk.
Eventually, he reached a small town decorated in Christmas lights. Windows shone brightly and holly hung from every door. Jack found himself at the doorsteps of one of these houses, ready to knock. After all, it was Christmas Eve, and there was a candle in the window. Surely they would welcome him in. Just as he was about to knock on the door, a woman who looked like she was in her forties stepped out.
"Oh dear, it's so cold out tonight. Why, hello. I didn't see you there. What are you doing out in the cold? Come in, come in. We don't want you freezing to death, now do we?" she said warmly as she ushered him in. Inside, he found the house to be just as cozy looking as it did on the outside. The woman, whose name he found out was Gloria, had him sit down before the fire with a hot cup of cocoa. Immediately, he began to warm up.
"NED! NED! Oh Ned, hurry up and be a dear. Can you please prepare a bath and bed for…um…what did you say your name was again?" Gloria asked.
"My name is Jack McKree, ma'am." Jack replied. Although he didn't usually say ma'am, he felt that he had to in that case. There just seemed to be an aura of motherly affection and kindness around her that demanded respect from him. Ned seemed to think so too because he was smiling fondly at her.
"Yes dear. I'll get to that right now. In the meanwhile, why don't you go prepare a nice, hot dinner for this young man? He looks starved." Ned suggested to his wife.
"Oh! What a marvelous idea! It's been so long since we've had any children in the house, so you'll have to excuse my excitement dear." Gloria informed Jack. He just smiled in amusement at the site of Gloria bustling about the kitchen. After a delicious meal and a warm bath, he fell asleep the moment his head touched the pillow.
Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Gloria and Ned sat, discussing their new guest. When Jack had been taking a bath, Gloria had found a handkerchief in one of his pant's pockets that had the name of an orphanage and its address and telephone number. Questions popped up at the mention of an orphanage. Was Jack an orphan? Was that why he had nowhere to go on a Christmas Eve? Then the next thing that she thought of was, could they adopt him? She had always wanted to fill the halls and rooms of her house with the laughter of children after her own had grown up and left. It was so quiet with only her and her husband living in the small house.
"Ned, about Jack, do you think we can keep him?" she inquired eagerly to her husband.
"We'll have to wait and see. What if he doesn't want to stay with us? It's only been a few hours since we've met him. Who knows if we'll get along after this?" pointed out Ned. Although he, like his wife, would love to have kids in the house again, this was too important of a matter to make a split second decision about. Within the few hours that he had already spent with the boy, he saw that Jack was a well-behaved boy with a good nature about him.
"Why don't we call the number on the handkerchief and get some information about adopting? It's a start." Gloria suggested.
"What a great idea, and since tomorrow is Christmas, the boy can stay here for another day or so before we make a decision. I want to see if he would be a positive addition to our little family."
"Oh Ned! Think about it! A child in our home, someone to spoil, someone to knit little sweaters for, and someone to test my cooking!" Gloria exclaimed with a blissful look on her face as she daydreamed about what wonderful things awaited their family.
"Well, you go ahead thinking about the good times. I do admit, it would be nice to have some young blood in this old house, but I don't want to be too optimistic. One of us has to think rationally and practically. If Jack can't adjust to life here, I don't want to force it on him. I'm going to observe him first and see how he does with the other children. If he gets along fine, then I don't think it'll be a problem for him if he stays here with us. I want him to be happy too."
"Alright then, I'll go call the orphanage right now. If he's a runaway, they'll be looking for him. I'm sure they'll want to know where he is." With that said, Gloria left the table and swept into the livingroom to the phone.
The next morning, Jack woke up, bright and early. When he got to the breakfast table, he saw a lot of food awaiting him. The day went by quickly as days tend to do when you're having a good time. However, one thing that Jack noticed was that Ned seemed to be watching him more than he had the night before. He felt a little unnerved by it but dismissed it as nothing important and continued on with the next thing that Gloria had planned for them. It was later on that evening when they sat down for Christmas dinner, that he realized that this was the best Christmas he had ever had.
"Nullaig Shona Duit!" all three exclaimed at the same time.
"Now let's have a wonderful dinner and then we can go out caroling with neighbors! Oh I just love Christmas!" Gloria exclaimed as she clapped gleefully.
Dinner consisted of the usual turkey and ham, potatoes, and all that good stuff. After eating so much that he thought he would burst, Jack sat back and sighed in contentment. Just then, Ned brought up the subject of which songs they were going to sing.
"I think that today would be an appropriate day for "The Twelve Nights of Christmas", especially since it's in our culture. Jack, do you know how it goes?" Ned asked.
"No, I've heard it a few times, but I've never learned it. How is it in our culture?"
"How is it in our culture?! Are you telling my that you don't know the story behind the song? It's not just some pretty words put together you know. It has history behind it my boy."
"Will you tell me Ned? I want to know. No one's ever mentioned a story involved."
"Well, it all began years ago when being a Catholic and practicing one's faith was a crime. The song, "The Twelve Days of Christmas", was used to help teach young Catholics the beliefs of their faith without getting into trouble. They could be hanged for that, you know."
"Really? My gosh, I didn't think that it could be so dangerous to be a Catholic!"
"In those days it was. People had to learn their religion in secret. That's why each line in the song has a hidden meaning. The "true love" that is referred to is actually talking about God and the "me" that is receiving the gifts is referring to every baptized person."
"On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, a partridge in a pear tree." Sang Gloria, joining in the conversation. She smiled. "The partridge in a pear tree represented Jesus Christ, the son of God."
"On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree. The turtle doves represented the Old and New Testaments. Then it goes like this - On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, three french hens, and so on and so on. The hens stood for Faith, Hope, and Charity, the theological virtues." Ned continued after Gloria.
"On the fourth day, there's four calling birds representing the four Gospels or four Evangelists. On the fifth day, five golden rings for the first five books of the Old Testament, the "Pentateuch". Then six geese a laying representing the six days of creation and seven swans a swimming for the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, also known as the seven Sacraments. What comes after that Gloria? My mind must be getting old for me to forget some of this."
"I believe that it's eight maids a milking next. They stand for the eight Beatitudes. On the ninth day of Christmas, we have nine ladies dancing for the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit. Ten lords a leaping comes next. They represent the Ten Commandments."
"Ah, yes, now I remember! Eleven pipers piping and twelve drummers drumming is all that is left. The pipers stand for the eleven faithful apostles and the drummers for the twelve points of doctrine in the Apostles Creed." Ned finished. "So you see, this song has a lot of meaning behind it. You need to learn about your culture a bit more Jack. Now I want you to go out there and sing this song with pride. Think about those who kept faith and kept practicing their religion even if it was in secret. Be proud."
"Wow, I didn't think that there could be so much behind one song. You're right. I think that it would be an appropriate song to sing tonight. Let's go before the neighbors leave without us!" Jack answered.
That Christmas night, Jack's voice could be heard above all the others as they sang "The Twelve Nights of Christmas". Ned heard this and as they sang, a smile spread over his face. Let's see how he does tomorrow, Ned thought, for tomorrow was St. Stephen's Day.
St. Stephen's Day arrived, bringing with it more festivities. Once again, Gloria had a long agenda of things to do waiting for Jack when he came to the kitchen table. Jack grinned, Gloria and Ned were fun to be around. They didn't treat him like a little kid, but at the same time they seemed to make his childhood more memorable. It was like he had discovered a whole new side of the holidays. When he was little, he couldn't spend Christmas like this with his family. His mother had died giving birth to him and his dad was all he had. Their budget was very tight, but they made it work. Usually, on holidays, they would decorate the house and that would be it. He had never gone caroling before, so last night had been a treat for him. He wondered what new things he would get to try now.
"Jack, today is St. Stephen's Day. That means that some of the younger children from down the lane will be coming by in a few hours. You can join them when they get here for pudding. We'll see you at the party later on. Just so you'll know what's going on, we're going to be collecting money for the poor after going around the houses. Oh what fun today is going to bring!" Gloria announced.
Once again, Jack noticed that Ned seemed to be watching him more than usual. Eventually, when the "Wren Children" did arrive, and just as he was about to leave with them, he saw Gloria and Ned passing each other sly looks. What are they up to now? He pondered over that thought all day as he celebrated St. Stephen's Day with all the other children. The day was better than he could have imagined it to be. They went door to door, receiving pudding and sometimes even small trinkets at each house. The other kids seemed to take to him immediately. He was a little shy at first, but when a group of young men in silly costumes passed, he couldn't help but laugh out loud with everyone else. What was even better about the day was that he was doing something good for everybody. After going around the houses in the small town, they went to the town center and watched the older boys with their holly bush poles dance and scream. Then they were allowed to go out to the hills and crawl under bushes in search of a wren. He had never had so much fun in his life. This was something that a little boy dreamed of everyday, to be able to get dirty without getting into trouble. Later on that night, at a party in one of the neighbor's house, he was happy to be able to present twenty dollars for charity. It had taken him most of the day to round that much money up. It really was one of the best feelings in the world to accomplish something meaningful, and that was what Jack discovered that night.
It was early in the morning, and the birds were chirping. Hardly anyone was up yet because they were all exhausted after the St. Stephen's party the night before. Everyone was tucked away in their cozy beds, that is everyone except Gloria and Ned. They had gotten up extra early that day to go officially adopt Jack McKree into their family. After watching him closely for two days, Ned was convinced that Jack would do well in their small town. He seemed to get along with the other children and teaching him about their Irish culture was a joy to the older man. Now Ned was just as sure as Gloria about taking Jack in.
When Jack woke up, the house was silent, which was unusual. For the few days that he had been there, the house had always seemed to be alive with some activity. Quietly, he got up out of bed, trying not to wake up Gloria or Ned if they were still asleep. He crept to the kitchen to find that no one was there.
"Gloria? Ned? Is any one here?" he asked as he ran throughout the house looking for them. It seemed that he was alone. Jack sighed. After three days of staying with them, he had become attached to the old couple. He had even forgotten about his quest to find his childhood home after all this time. Maybe today would be the day that he would leave. After all, what was keeping him there? The only reason he had been able to stay for three days was because of the lighted candle in the window or because it was the holidays, and they couldn't be cruel enough to turn someone out into the cold, or so he thought.
Gloria and Ned came home to find Jack sitting out on their front doorsteps. Before they could tell him the good news, he had stood up with a grim look on his face, which warned them not to speak just yet.
"Gloria, Ned, thank you all so much for your hospitality. I don't want to be a burden to you anymore especially since there isn't a reason for you guys to keep me here. I'll be on my way again. I just wanted to say good-bye." Jack shook their hands and then he turned to leave, but before he could take a step, Ned stopped him.
"Whoa, slow down there. Why are you leaving? And what is all this talk about being a burden? If we didn't want you, don't you think we would have said something about it? Now get back over here and listen to what Gloria and I have to say before taking off." Ned ordered. Meekly, Jack walked back to them. He was sure that what they had to say would be bad news, but all the same, he was curious.
"Jack, I have something very important to ask you. Now, this morning, I'm sure that you were wondering where Ned and I were. As it turns out, I found a handkerchief in one of your pant's pocket that first night you were here."
When Jack heard this, the blood drained out of his face. Did they know that he was a runaway?
"I called the orphanage that had its number on your handkerchief. We know that you ran away, but for what reasons, that we don't know. I..." Before Gloria could continue, Jack cut in with a desperate plea.
"Please don't send me back! I just wanted to go find my old home. Besides, no one is going to adopt me now. I'm too old. It's fine! Really! I can take care of myself." Jack argued.
"Hush now child. What I wanted to ask you was...would you like to stay with us? We've got the papers and everything. That's where we were this morning. We went to get the legal papers to adopt you, but it's up to you whether or not you want us as parents." Gloria told him. Then she waited for his answer. It took awhile for him to understand what had just happened. He seemed to be in shock. There was a blink, then another blink, and then two more before the thought registered in his brain. I'm going to be adopted he thought. I'm really going to be part of this family. A family. It had been so long since he had been part of one. A huge smile spread across his face slowly.
"Yes! Yes! YES! I would love to be part of your family!" he exclaimed, and with that, everyone cheered and embraced each other.
"I was hoping you would say that. Now I can teach you more about our culture. You're Irish boy, and you can be proud of that." laughed Ned.
Suddenly a look of realization dawned on Jack. "So that's why you were watching me so closely, wasn't it? You were trying to see if I could fit in or not, or whether I'd be happy here. I knew something weird was going on when you kept sharing glances across the table with Gloria. Hey, I was thinking. I don't even know what your last names are. If I'm going to be part of this family, I should know what my last name is going to be." Jack said with a look of surprise then curiosity on his face.
"You will be known as Jack McKree Dykeman from this day forward. Now let's go in and celebrate this happy occasion!" Gloria cried with happy anticipation at the celebrating they would have to do. Ned held his hand out as a gesture of welcome.
"Come on in son. You're part of the family now."
With that simple gesture, Jack McKree Dykeman knew that he was finally home.