I slept at about 2:00 am ( early by previous standards; one Christmas 5 years ago, friends and I just talked until 7:00 am, Christmas Day went to sleep and woke up at 1:00 pm ). The house was a mess of course, but I do not mind. It is a sign that the kids and the grandkids were here and they had a grand time.
The house is cold at the time of writing because I usually turn down the thermostat before hitting the sack and, I have not raised it up yet. So before I went down to my basement where my Computer is, I took the jacket I used last night during the mass and put it over my pajamas. I checked one pocket. It has 2 $ and30 cents in change..Aha, this would start the story rolling.
The money belongs to Emma Forbes whose cute face you must have seen in some of the pages in the Asingan Journal. I gave the money to her and then hours later, she gave it to me for safekeeping and in the hulabaloo of opening gifts and playing with all her cousins, she forgot all about it. Let us start from the beginning.
About 2 weeks ago in church, I wanted her to sing just after a Sunday Mass was finished so I can hear how she sounds in the church microphones.. She shook her head and if a 6 year old shakes her head, you can not do anything about it. Except promise her some money. Which I did and her head shake became a nod. So, I sat down in front of the organ, played the intro and she started the verse 1 of O HOLY NIGHT. She did it a couple of times, after which she ran off with her friends to check an ongoing bake sale in the basement. When I got home, I forgot about my promise to her and she did not remind it to me either. Not until last night, Dec. 24 at our house.
So almost everybody was in our house in the usual Christmas eve activity. Then I asked Emma again who was doing a Kelly Clarkson Karaoke in the TV room.." How about a song for our guests?"..Uh-uh she said with the headshake. "I will give you money" I said. "You promised that in church but you did not give me any.." she answered just like that.
Ooops, I realized my error. I dug into my pocket, here is some money, I will pay you in advance. How about that?"It was $2.30 . Here, take it..She had a pocket in her skirt and she slid it in there.She did not even count it. Money is money to her and she does not bother how much it is. It seems it symbolizes a promise redeemed. In this case, she won! .So she went beside the piano, I did the intro, and she sang the same song in front of everyday. Then she went back to the TV room to join her friends.
When I related the money incident, everyone was in stiches.
As the start of the Mass drew near, I ordered her and her sister Mia to get dressed. They did and Emma came to me again and said "My church dress has no pocket in it..Can you keep for the meantime.? So I took it and slid it in my jacket's pocket and we all went out into the rainy night. It was a wet Christmas in Toronto last night.
Well, they sang in 2 masses. One incident during the singing will be the topic of another entry. In the meantime, I must keep the $2.30 somewhere safe. If I lose it or spend it accidentally, I will be in big trouble.
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