The Christmas Angel Among Us

　　I come from a happy big family.On each Christmas night, our entire family gathers at my oldest sister's home, exchanging gifts, watching the nativity skit put on by the smaller children, eating, singing and enjoying a visit from Santa himself.

　　The Christmas of 1988, my husband Bob and I had four children. Peter was eleven, Leigh-Ann was nine, Laura was six and Matthew was two. When Santa arrived, Matthew parked himself on Santa's lap and pretty much remained dazzled by him for the rest of the evening. Anyone who had their picture taken with Santa that Christmas also had their picture taken with little Matthew.

　　Little did any of us know how precious those photos with Santa and Matthew would become. Five days after Christmas, our sweet little Matthew died in an accident at home. We were devastated. We were lucky to have strong support from our families and friends to help us through. I learned that the first year after a death is the hardest year, because without your love, birthdays and special days become sad, instead of joy.

　　When our first Christmas without Matthew approached, it was hard for me to get into the holiday spirit. Bob and I could hardly face putting up the decorations or shopping for special gifts for everyone. But we went through the motions for Peter, Leigh-Ann and Laura. Then, on December 13, something extraordinary happened to raise our spirits when we didn't think it was possible.

　　We were just finishing dinner when we heard a knock on the front door. When we went to answer it, no one was there. However, on the front porch was a card and gift. We opened the card and read that the gift-giver wanted to remain anonymous; he or she just wanted to help us get through a rough time by cheering us up.

　　In the gift bag was a cassette of favorite Christmas music, which was in a little cardboard Christmas tree.  We put the cassette in our player and, song by song, the spirit of Christmas began to warm our hearts.

　　That was the beginning of a series of gifts from the clever giver, one for each day until Christmas. Each gift followed the theme of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" in a creative way. We would get calls from our family, neighbors and friends who would want to know what we had received that day. Together, we would chuckle at the ingenuity and marvel at the thoughtfulness as we enjoyed each surprise. We were so caught up in the excitement and curiosity of what would possibly come next, that our grief didn't have much of a chance to rob us of the spirit of Christmas. What our elf did was absolutely miraculous.

　　Each year since then, as we decorate our Christmas tree, we place on it the decorations we received that Christmas while we play the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas." We give thanks for our elf who was, we finally realized, our very own Christmas angel. We never did find out who it was, although we have our suspicions. We actually prefer to keep it that way. It remains a wondrous and magical experience - as mysterious and blessed as the very first Christmas.

　　我们之间的圣诞天使

　　我来自一个幸福的大家庭。在每个圣诞节的晚上，我们全家聚在我姐姐家里，交换礼物，看电视。 小孩子们给他穿上降生短剧，吃东西，唱歌，享受圣诞老人亲自来访的乐趣。

　　1988年圣诞节，我和丈夫鲍勃生了四个孩子。彼得十一岁，利安九岁，劳拉六岁，马修两岁。圣诞老人来的时候，马修把自己停在圣诞老人的腿上 埃蒂在晚上剩下的时间里都被他迷住了。任何在圣诞节和圣诞老人合影的人都会和小马修合影。

　　我们都不知道那些圣诞老人和马修的照片会变得多么珍贵。圣诞节五天后，我们可爱的小马修在家里意外死亡。我们被摧毁了。幸运的是，我们的家人和朋友会给予我们强有力的支持，帮助我们度过难关。死亡后的第一年是最艰难的一年，因为没有你的爱，生日和特殊的日子变得悲伤，而快乐却荡然无存。

　　当我们第一次圣诞节没有马修的时候，我很难养成假期的精神。鲍勃和我几乎不可能为每个人化妆或买礼物 但是我们为彼得、利安和劳拉做了一些动作.。然后，在12月13日，当我们认为这是不可能的时候，发生了一件不同寻常的事情来鼓舞我们的精神。

　　我们刚吃完晚饭，就听到前门传来敲门声。当我们去接电话的时候，没有人在场。然而，在前廊是一张卡片和礼物。我们打开卡片读到 送礼人希望匿名；他或她只是想让我们振作起来，帮助我们度过难关。

　　礼品袋里放着一盒最受欢迎的圣诞音乐，它就在一棵小纸板圣诞树上。我们把盒子放在我们的播放器里， 一首歌一首歌，圣诞的精神开始温暖我们的心。

　　这是这位聪明的送礼者送给他的一系列礼物的开始，每天都有一件礼物送给他，直到圣诞节。每件礼物都以一种创造性的方式遵循“圣诞节的十二天”的主题。我们经常能够接到家人、邻居和朋友的电话，他们想知道那天我们收到了什么。我们在一起时，会为自己的独创性而发笑，对我们的体贴赞叹不已。 每个惊喜都很愉快。我们被接下来可能发生的事情所吸引和好奇，以至于我们的悲伤没有多少机会剥夺我们圣诞节的精神。我们的精灵确实奇迹般地做到了。

　　从那时起，每年，当我们装饰圣诞树时，我们都会在圣诞树上放上我们在圣诞节收到的装饰品，同时我们还会放一首歌“圣诞节的十二天”。我们感谢我们的精灵， 我们终于意识到我们自己的圣诞天使。虽然我们有怀疑，但我们一直没有查出是谁。实际上我们更愿意保持这种状态。它仍然是一场奇妙而神奇的经历。 美好的时光--就像第一个圣诞节一样神秘而幸福。