{"id":66,"date":"2002-12-25T13:58:06","date_gmt":"2002-12-25T18:58:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/?p=66"},"modified":"2011-11-03T13:59:06","modified_gmt":"2011-11-03T17:59:06","slug":"issue-8-christmas-2002","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/2002\/12\/issue-8-christmas-2002\/","title":{"rendered":"Issue 8 – Christmas 2002"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Scout Who Saved Christmas<\/strong><\/p>\n

Christmas Eve, 1992, wasn\u2019t particularly cold, but after all, this was Southern California. It was early evening, and my son \u2013 a 12-year-old Boy Scout \u2013 and I were hunting for the last item we needed \u2013 a Christmas tree. Some lots had already sold all their trees and were closing up. Others, open, had trees, but they were just too expensive. This was a difficult winter. I had just become a \u201csingle parent.\u201d I had lost my job. Cash was so tight, I wasn\u2019t sure I\u2019d be able to make this Christmas anywhere close to merry. Fact was, I was sort of in survival mode.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I can just get through the next couple of days,\u201d I thought, \u201cthen maybe things will turn out OK.\u201d But, sitting next to me in the car was a bright-eyed boy who, if not Santa Claus anymore, still believed in the spirit of Christmas. I sure didn\u2019t want to disappoint him, or myself, either. Somehow, the few dollars I had left in my pocket would have to be enough for a tree.<\/p>\n

We made the rounds. Looked at some trees. Mostly, I tried to pretend they were too tall, or too short, or whatever, when the truth was, I just didn\u2019t have enough money to buy them.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey,\u201d I finally said to my son, \u201cremember that Boy Scout tree lot \u2013 the one the Troop in the next town over has, to raise money for their camping trips? We\u2019ve bought lots of trees there, over the years. Maybe they have one just for us, this year!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, Dad, I remember them! Let\u2019s go check \u2018em out!\u201d he replied. So, turning the car around, we drove to the next town, and found the Troop\u2019s tree lot \u2013 just as it was closing down.<\/p>\n

A few Scouts were milling around, picking up stray pieces of twine and small branches that had been trimmed from the tree bottoms for stands to fit, while a couple of fathers were putting saws and unused tree stand wood in the back of a small pickup truck. We parked anyway, and walked over to where they were cleaning up. And there, amidst the last-minute debris, was one lone tree. Not too tall, not too short, with full, bunchy branches still visible in the fading evening light. Quietly tucking one hand in my right pants pocket, I tried to re-count the few dollars I had left, when one of the Scouts \u2013 he appeared to be about 16 or 17 \u2013 came over to us.<\/p>\n

\u201cHi! Can I help you?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re looking for a tree!\u201d blurted my son, while I tried to look as if we might have been there for some other reason. Then, one of the fathers came over, to ask the same question. I just sort of shuffled my feet, feeling the thinness of the folded dollars in my pocket.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t I know you?\u201d asked the Scout. \u201cYeah, I know you two,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019ve bought trees from us almost every year, ever since I became a Scout six years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSay, Dad,\u201d he continued, \u201cyou\u2019ve been complaining about what we\u2019re gonna do with that one last tree. How about we give it to these guys. They\u2019ve been good customers of ours ever since I joined the Troop.\u201d<\/p>\n

His dad smiled. \u201cSounds like a good idea to me,\u201d he said. \u201cWant us to tie it to the top of you car?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSure, and I\u2019ll help,\u201d my own son added, and he and the other Scout tied up the branches and then secured the tree to our car.<\/p>\n

\u201cHave a Merry Christmas!\u201d that dad and son waved, as we drove from the lot.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have no idea just how merry you\u2019ve made this particular Christmas,\u201d I thought as we headed home.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Happy Scouting, <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Andy<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Have a question? Send it via email to askandybsa@yahoo.com<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

(Special Christmas Issue 2002)<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Scout Who Saved Christmas Christmas Eve, 1992, wasn\u2019t particularly cold, but after all, this was Southern California. It was early evening, and my son \u2013 a 12-year-old Boy Scout \u2013 and I were hunting for the last item we needed \u2013 a Christmas tree. Some lots had already sold all their trees and were […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-14"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66\/revisions\/68"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}