The Gift that Lasts Forever
(based on Christmas Love from Chicken Soup for the Soul Christmas Cheer), a dream I had early Dec. 6, 2014 and of course the original Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
It is now a little over a quarter century after the main and initial story of The Outsiders. The 3 Curtis brothers have long since been middle class and left their scuzzy old neighborhood behind them. Darry, after having worked as an accountant, is now a professor of accounting. His wife Dawn Joy teaches literature at the same university. Soda never wed or had children, but he and several friends run a special year round horse camp for kids with special needs and their families (as well as other special acquaintances) Ponyboy is an art and music professor at a university in a nearby town. He is in a special long term relationship with a lady named Melody Rose who instructs music at the same campus.
It is on a particular dark, cool December afternoon, in a well-kept spacious yet not imposing house in a lovely neighborhood with sizable yards, that Joy Grace, the little 5 ½ year old daughter of Darry and Dawn, is slowly printing out letters that have special meaning on a piece of paper. The original 3 brothers have gathered, along with Dawn, Melody, Steve Randle, Two Bit, Kate (Two-Bit's younger sister) and Mrs. Matthews (Two-Bit and Kate's mother) for a festive reunion. An angel in a rainbow colored gown sits atop the tree, with an adobe creche below it.
Darry leans over to see what Joy Grace is writing and says, with more than a little amusement, "What a funny collection of letters. Why are you writing C H I L?"
"It means something really important, Daddy" Joy Grace responds.
"Oh?"
(By this time all the others have gathered in the room, looking over the big block writing, smiling).
However, Dawn soon inquires, "Are each of these letters supposed to stand for words?"
Joy Grace nods. With a smile of her own, she asks the grown people to guess the meanings of the letters.
All the adults think the C means chocolate, candy, Christmas, or perhaps, cherries or coffee, but they are all wrong.
"C is for Christ" Joy Grace states.
H, as everyone then guesses, is for Heaven.
The grown people in the room goof up again, however, over the meaning of the I.
Icicle, igloo, or perhaps even an eye in the body, from how eye is pronounced.
Joy just keeps shaking her head until finally she tells them that I is supposed to stand for Israel, because Christ was born there.
The first S is Smile, a gift that is meant to make us all smile.
The other 2 S's stand for the Star that guided the way to the Stable, where baby Jesus Christ was laid.
A is for Angel.
Finally, the L means Love, for as Joy Grace reminds us, Christ came to give us the gift of the highest and ultimate type of Love.