A Special Christmas Story

As a Grandma, I find it difficult to select a "special" gift for a 4-1/2 year old grandson who is incredibly "techie" gifted and has a vivid imagination and curiosity about life and his own world.  Sounds like typical grandma-speak but he is very special to me.  Well, I decided to give him (and my son-in-law) a little tribute in appreciation of all they mean to me and my daughter.

Greg, my son-in-law, was born with a condition known as  ... get ready ... a Left, Below the Elbow, Congenital Amputation ... (phew!)  which left him with one arm slightly underdeveloped  and only half the normal length with "nubbins" for fingers on that arm.  With an abundance of energy and pluck, Greg has grown into a delightful young man, husband and father and constantly amazes me with his creativity and sparkle in moving through life, ignoring his physical difference and rising to any challenge as if it were routine fare.  Greg plays the piano, and uses any keyboard device with speed, accuracy and ease and would put to shame anyone who had the advantage of ten fingers and the manual dexterity of Van Cliburn.  He loves all aspects of the restaurant business and orchestrates culinary masterpieces both at home and at work, hoping one day soon of opening his own restaurant with all the skills he has learned.

My grandson, Seamus, of course, realizes that Dad has one arm that Dad calls his "stump," but in everyday routine, he is no different than any other loving father of a bright and active 4-1/2 year old son.  So in tribute to these special individuals, I wrote a story of "Little Gregory - the Snow Urchin" and created the doll that is featured in the story.

Briefly, Snow Urchins are tiny creatures who live in the mountain country in caves and caverns and search the woodlands in winter for sick or injured animals, who they nuture, feed and bring back to health with their special healing powers.  They are rarely seen by human beings except children and the young-at-heart.  Little Gregory is a special Snow Urchin who has one whole arm and one half arm which he lovingly calls his "stump."  The younger Snow Urchins tease him and sometimes slip out on routine rescue missions, leaving Little Gregory behind.  Gregory didn't cry but went deep into the caves to his workshop and practiced diligently on learning how to whittle and carve.  He finally taught himself to be a master carver.

As fate would have it, a fierce and greedy fur trapper named Dirty Jack came to the woodlands seeking new territory in which to trap wild animals and kill them for their beautiful fur.  Dirty Jack wanted to become rich by selling as many beautiful and unusual fur pelts as he could find.  As the adventure moves on, one of the Snow Urchins named Peter is captured by Dirty Jack who now knows he will certainly gain more riches by displaying this incredible strange creature in the circus and the public all over the world.  The Snow Urchins band together to decide on how to rescue Peter and rid the woodlands of Dirty Jack.

Little Gregory steps forward with a solution.  What is it?  ...  Tune in here at my blog on Christmas Eve for the full revelation of the story of Little Gregory ....

Seamus

Little Gregory

Polly, Greg and Seamus

Winterlings 2 - The Snow Urchins

While the Snow Angel lives among the wishing stars and waits to be summoned to Earth, another Winterling is quite Earthbound and is known as the Snow Urchin.  A Snow Urchin is a tiny creature that comes to live in the woodlands during the winter snows.  They live in the underground caves and caverns in the mountain country where it is very cool all year round but emerge to play above ground in the winter when the first snows sugar the countryside.

Snow Urchins are the caretakers of the tiny and helpless wildlife of the woodlands.  They perform various important tasks which include feeding seeds and nuts to the winter birds, field mice and other fragile creatures.  They also protect animal babies such as bunnies, opossums, and yearling fawns who may have become orphaned by hungry foxes, bobcats or hunters.  The Snow Urchins  keep them warm, fed and loved in special boroughs and hidden caves through the worst of winter weather.  Some Urchins carry bags of seeds and nibbles as they move silently through the underbrush at night. 

The Snow Urchins have very strong healing powers and should they find an injured or sick animal during their daily rounds, the little animal is brought back to the caverns where herbal broths and concoctions are ministered to the little patient in order to restore it to good health.  Because they are very clever at moving about unnoticed through the snowy woodlands, Snow Urchins have rarely been seen by  human beings.  They are masters of disguise and often strap false rabbit footprints to the bottoms of their beautiful red curly-toed boots so that their prints in the snow confuse even the most seasoned of trackers.  However, on very rare occasions, and especially on Christmas Eve if it snows, the little Snow Urchins will allow themselves to be seen by children and the very young-at-heart. 

So, this Christmas Eve, if there is a magical snowfall, peek out your window and you just might see a little Snow Urchin blow you a kiss for Christmas.

Snow Urchin

Snow Urchin