The Christmas Pin Society
by
Copyright ©
Chapter Five
Kathy's success with Belinda was not surprising. For Belinda and Paul, life seemed to go a bit smoother than for most. I always thought that was God's gift to them to replace the emptiness they felt in having no children. With business slowing down for the holidays, they both agreed this would be a perfect opportunity to visit. As far as her Christmas pins were concerned, Belinda could not think of a better use for them. She was delighted to be able to participate in such an event and didn't think twice when saying 'yes'.
I, on the other hand, had the more difficult task of persuading Angel and Hannah. Unlike Belinda and Kathy, who were much more accomplished at letting go ~ looking at the past with ease, while looking to the future with adventure ~ the rest of us had the tendency to fervently cling with a tight embrace. The "what" we cling to may be obvious, though different for each of us. The "why" we cling can be more of an enigma, and evade even the most sensible of us. We become so endeared to what we are clinging to that we are unaware of how encumbered we become from the weight of it. I suppose we cling because we fear losing something dear to us, and the fear of that loss prevents us from seeing what we might gain if we were to just loosen our grip.
Convincing Angel to donate her pins for the auction wasn't hard. She thought the idea was wonderful. However, persuading her to help organize such an immense endeavor took more effort. Clinging more closely to her children and grandchildren after Joe Jr.'s homecoming, the thought of venturing outside of that nucleus seemed daunting to her. "Angel, we need your expertise," I solicited. For this auction to be successful her past fund-raising experience for the schools had to be employed. She possessed just the perfect amount of charismatic quality needed to communicate with the newspapers and television stations. I reminded her of the many successful school carnivals, plays, and auctions all because she knew when, where, and how to advertise; ensuring a large community attendance.
We started again to talk about Billy Harris and his parents. Angel began to remember how she felt when she thought she had lost her boy; how she prayed, yearned, wept, and prayed again. Her empathy grew, and I could hear in her voice the uncertainty she had felt earlier melt away. "Yes," she said, "oh, Emma, yes. We have to give this child our best. Every child deserves that much." "You'll do it, Angel?" I asked. "Look," she replied firmly, "you just tell me when and where ~ all the details ~ and leave the publicity to me. Just make sure the place you get is big enough to hold this auction-slash-luncheon." "Thank you, Angel," I sighed, "I knew we could count on you."
I was relieved that morning after talking to Angel. With some gentle prying, she opened up and let go. That led me into a false sense of pride and confidence in a job well done. Hannah, I was about to discover, was clinging to something which was not so easily surrendered ~ memories.
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