LOVE ~ HOPE ~ AND A LOCKET
(‘Tis the Season) 
The white snow was crunchy. The winds were calm, making the cold less cold as we walked across a full parking lot last night. People of all ages trudged into the middle school to see beloved children perform the musical “Annie.”
I couldn’t help but notice that we were a motley group of people. I imagined that everyone entering the building had an individual story, even a challenge that they overcame to attend this show. You could just tell.
One by one, we took our seats and chatted with family and/or friends before the show began. You could hear people reviewing what role their child or grandchild was playing.
Soon the curtains opened and a beautiful story unfolded as a musical, sung by young actors and actresses who had been well prepared by their talented young music director and teachers.
Truthfully, we were not there for perfection. We were there to view that unmistakeable hope and promise of potential that will likely grace our land in the future. . . and for the joy of supporting everyone’s talents and hard work. And they were amazing.
If you remember, Annie is the story of an eleven year old red haired girl who was left in a girl’s orphanage under the care of a mean woman. The song “Tomorrow” likely comes to your mind.
“Tomorrow” is a song of hope sung in the midst of adversity, rendered especially poignant during the Christmas season, a time when adversity seems more difficult to endure against the backdrop of celebration. Life, it seems, still has its stress and pressure no matter the season or the celebration.
Annie was a spunky one. And she was loving. She had never lost hope. She wore a locket around her neck given to her years before by her parents with the promise of their love and return when things were better.
At the same time, she looked for ways to make it happen sooner. She believed things would get better. And they did for her.
You know the end. It is a happy ending where wrong was made right in the best way possible, where political parties did not matter (hmmm), where meaning and joy did not come from wealth but from goodness and love, where she remembered all of her orphaned friends and the mean caretaker (played by a very dear young girl) reaped the consequences of her own bitterness and greed.
I love happy endings and I actually believe in happy endings. Especially like this one. What mattered endured even when she learned that her parents had died and she indeed was entitled to be adopted by someone who loved her (and who was rich).
A shiny new locket held no appeal for Annie. The object is only an object. Material things are only material things. The love and hope that the trinket locket provided for her were far more valuable than the Tiffany’s locket she was offered. It is not about the locket. It is about heart and love and enduring relationships.
I will never forget one year in which I learned this lesson. That was the year I could not afford any gifts for anyone. My former husband did not have a steady job at the time and I was making meager money. I felt stressed by not having money and I did not want anyone to know just how tight things were. So, I learned to crochet some stocking caps and I made each loved one a stocking cap. I only knew one way but I varied the colors! Also, with that came a note…a promise that each one of them had their special days during the year when I would surprise them with a note, a gift, or a call. And they were also promised a special prayer of blessing on their appointed day.
Years later, I sometimes see one of those old, misshapen, and poorly made hats fall out of their coat closets and I remind them that they can discard it any time (and believe me, I will not be hurt)! They remind me that it was their favorite gift from me. Like Annie’s locket, those hats carried love and enduring blessings from my heart to theirs.
The silver lining of adversity, or the real gift you give another is a promise of love and hope and a feeling that they matter to you. The locket does not have to come from Tiffany’s but it must come from the heart.
‘Tis the season for hope, love, and faith. This is part of our American freedom to express. And it is always our personal freedom to embrace. May your heart be truly filled by a deep sense of inner abundance. Always.