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Grandma was so proud of her grand children for thinking of Emily, and not themselves on this Christmas. It warmed her heart that they could be so caring. She was, however, worried that the children were in for a disappointment when Santa could not deliver on their request. She bowed her head and prayed, “ Dear Lord, if it is your will that Emily come to you in heaven, I pray that you will heal the wounds of these children who are asking Santa for this miracle. Please be with them Father, and help them understand that You are in charge. I ask this in the name of our Savior, Jesus...Amen.”
It was getting very close to dinner time, and while Mom and Aunt Jeanne were working on Christmas dinner for tomorrow, Aunt Karen and Grandma had been working on the dinner for this evening. Grandma made a great big batch of her wonderful chicken noodle soup, as Aunt Karen focused on the corn bread and hot cocoa. Emily was still not awake, so Mom went up to see if she felt like coming down to eat with the family. “I would sure like to Mommy, but I am so tired, and I think I'd just rather stay here in bed.” “There is still plenty of time for you to visit tomorrow, Em. I will bring you up a tray with your dinner.” said Mom lovingly. Cora hurried back downstairs to prepare a tray with Emily's dinner, and asked the family to start without her while she fed her daughter. Cora quickly prepared Emily's dinner, and took with her a pencil and paper, so that Emily could write her letter to Santa after she had finished eating.
Emily ate as much as she could, which wasn't much. Only about half a bowl of Grandma's soup, and a few bites of the cornbread. She did manage to drink down the whole cup of hot cocoa, however. She loved hot cocoa, and Mom made an exception to her rules on this night. Normally, Em and Patrick had to finish their meal before starting in on the hot cocoa, but at this point, rules didn't matter to Mom. She only wanted Emily to be happy! “Mommy, do you think they have hot cocoa in heaven?” Emily asked. Cora was visibly shaken by the question, but answered, “Well...God does promise nothing but good things in heaven, so I can't imagine a heaven without hot cocoa....can you?” Emily smiled and said, “That's what I think too. I sure hope so anyway.” Cora was fighting back the tears, and trying to be strong, but she was about to lose that battle. She asked Emily, in a very shaky voice, if she would like her to write the letter to Santa for her, but Em decided that she would like to do it on her own. “No, thank you Mommy. If you could just bring me an envelope, I can do it myself.” “Okay little girl, I'll be back in a bit with your envelope” said Cora as she picked up the dinner tray and left the room.
Back at the dinner table, everyone had decided to wait for Cora to start eating. It was important to them that they all, as a family, said grace and ate together. Cora still had tears in her eyes as she approached the table, but quickly gathered herself and sat with the rest of the family. Jerry always said grace on special occasions, but as they all joined hands around the table, Grandpa spoke up and asked, “ Son, would it be okay with you if I said grace this time?” This was a strange request, as Grandpa was not usually given to prayer, but his heart was full on this night, and wanted to ask the Lord's blessing. “Sure Dad...we'd really love that.” said Jerry.