As one might expect, Christmas was the number one holiday for the Haley children. Indeed, they were like all children when it came to Christmas. In addition to the anticipation of opening their presents, they loved to search the woods for the perfect tree with their father, and they loved to decorate the tree with their mother, as Murdock sat serenely in his “comfy rocker” and watched.
Being a family of modest means, the Haleys could not afford to buy decorations for the tree, so they made ornaments out of Christmas ribbons and out of shiny red, blue and silver foil bought specifically for that purpose. Margaret taught her kids how to fold the brightly colored foil into balls using one of the children’s two-inch marbles as a mold. And she taught them how to create star-shaped ornaments using the foil wrapped around cardboard cutouts. The multicolored ribbons were twisted into a garland and strung around the tree, as were strings of popcorn that had been dunked in bright green, red, blue, or yellow dye.
Although they were not as fancy as the expensive decorations sold in department stores, they looked just as pretty hanging on the Haleys’ tree. The ornaments made of red, blue, and silver foil were especially beautiful because they reflected the light given off by the many candles and kerosene lamps that were strategically placed in the living room each Christmas. Those reflective ornaments exhibited the appearance of twinkling stars as the ever present air currents in the poorly insulated old house caused them to slowly rotate on the dyed-green threads from which they dangled.
The ornament that sat at the top of the tree was, as always, a lovely angel that Margaret painstakingly made the year after Leona was born. Murdock meticulously carved the angel’s head for his wife on a six-inch by three-quarter-inch dowel made of balsam wood. And she, just as meticulously, colored its delicate face with a paint set she bought for Lillian, so that it looked as angelic as any she had seen. Next, Murdock carefully attached angelic wings, which he had also carved from balsam wood, to the dowel.
After painting the wings white, the creative housewife sewed an angel’s robe out of scraps of pure white silk that she had purchased in Bangor, using bright-red ribbon as trim for the robe that encircled the bottom part of the wooded dowel. Margaret was so proud of her masterpiece that she kept it in a glass display case: one Murdock had made just for that purpose. The only time the angel was removed from the display was for the four weeks each year that it sat atop the Haley Christmas tree. Margaret’s angel was always the first ornament to be placed on the tree and the last one off when Christmas had passed.
The magic of Christmas was always highlighted by the children’s anticipation of watching their mother remove her beautiful angel from the display and then seeing their father climb his stepladder to set it at the peak of the tree, where it watched over and seemingly protected the Haley household. In this regard the Haleys’ Christmas was made special and unique from those of other families, but in general they celebrated Christmas much like everyone else.
With encouragement from their parents, the children wrote letters to Santa, not to ask for presents for themselves, but instead to ask Santa to bring presents to poorer children and to the children who spent Christmas in orphanages. This was the parents’ way of instilling the true meaning of Christmas in their children. And it no doubt worked, because the children quickly realized that asking Santa to give to others felt so much better than asking the Jolly Old Man to bring them presents.
And although the Haleys knew they were the “next thing to being poor,” they always took the time and used their meager resources to make dozens of presents to give to the unwanted children in the local orphanage, so each would be assured of getting more than one present for Christmas. Margaret would make children and doll clothing, while her husband would carve girls and boys toys from wood he had left over from other projects. Their own children gladly helped their parents in whatever way their young abilities allowed them to.
So no child would go without, Margaret always talked to the head of the orphanage a month before Christmas to find out how many children were there, and what their age and gender were. If by chance another child or two came to the orphanage before Christmas, she and Murdock had extra toys at the ready. If not needed, they were used the following year. As much pride as they took in providing those small gifts, the Haleys were always glad when a few were returned to them, because it meant that at least some of the children had been adopted: the best Christmas present they could receive. No Christmas gift, no matter how expensive or desired, could bring more joy to a child than being wanted by a loving family.
In spite of the Haleys’ non-traditional approach to Christmas, they also observed many of the traditional ways of celebrating it too. Like Lillian and Arlene before her, Leona always left milk and cookies on a table next to the tree for Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. And when Christmas morning finally arrived, the Haley children awoke to find the milk and cookies gone. This was their confirmation that Santa had been there; and, after seeing that the cookies were missing, they quickly searched under the tree to see what Santa had brought.
Although most of the gifts were placed under the tree a week or two before, there would always be one present for each on Christmas morning that wasn’t under the tree the night before. Those presents from Santa were easy to spot because they were always out front; and even if they hadn’t been, the children had eyed the glorious tree so often over the previous two weeks that they had, without really trying, memorized the location of each gift and who it was for—and from. So Santa’s gifts stuck out like a sore thumb on Christmas morning.
Margaret and Murdock took great pleasure in seeing their children filled with youthful joy and excitement, because they remembered how they had been just as excited and filled with warmth every Christmas morning when they were kids. And even though the God-loving parents knew that, during the two-hour period on Christmas morning when they were opening presents and savoring their gifts, the children were for now overlooking the true meaning of that holy holiday, it didn’t really matter to them because the joy that was unmistakable on their children’s faces and in their voices was as comforting as the religious significance of that day. Not that the Haleys wanted their children to overlook the true meaning of Christmas, but they were wise enough to know that there was enough time on this special day, as well as enough time during the remainder of the year, to remind their children of the true meaning of their Savior’s birthday. So they allowed their children to be self-indulgent for just a little while on this most holy of days.
Like many people of that time, Margaret and Murdock could not always afford to buy presents, so they had to make many of their children’s gifts. The only really expensive gift the children ever received in the past was given last Christmas: a toboggan that the children had to share. Other than that toboggan, and a few less expensive store bought presents, the Haleys had to resort to their own ingenuity to insure that their children had a special Christmas each year. Murdock would utilize his skills in carpentry to make special gifts: such as, dollhouses, small furniture and cradles for the girls; and wooden wagons, trucks, and other toys for Wally. He spent hours in his workshop making those presents, and the detailed craftsmanship that he put into each one made it a very special gift indeed.
Margaret knew just how special all of her husband’s gifts were, and this year she made a point of telling her children that.
“If the gifts your father crafted for us had been store-bought, they would have no doubt been very expensive indeed, because of the craftsmanship involved.”
As a result, the children always looked forward to receiving their father’s special gifts. But Murdock wasn’t the only crafter in the family: Margaret would knit and sew beautiful clothes and blankets for her children and their dolls, in addition to baking their favorite cookies as presents. Although they did receive a few store-bought presents like other kids, they were just as excited, if not more so, when they opened their special hand-crafted presents each Christmas morning.
Although the children cherished all their presents, the most enjoyable to them, however fleeting the enjoyment, was the large basket of fresh-made molasses cookies that each received from their mother. Margaret always got out of bed early on Christmas morning to make a fresh-baked batch, just so the cookies would still be warm when each of her children unwrapped the gift to find their own wicker basket, full of the soft, tasty morsels. But the children were not alone in the enjoyment of special Christmas presents, because Margaret and Murdock would also make similar gifts for each other. Margaret would sew or knit the most beautiful socks, shirts and sweaters for her husband. In fact, she was adept at making a variety of clothing for Murdock; including, ‘work clothes’ that were useful when he farmed, heavy ‘woods clothes’ for the harsh Maine winter, and ‘elegant clothes’ for church or social events. Murdock in turn made handcrafted furniture for Margaret. Each year for Christmas he would add one or two items to her collection. He would start the new piece of furniture right after Christmas and work tirelessly the whole year crafting it until he felt it was perfect for his wife. And, it was not uncommon for Murdock to be almost done with a part, only to discard it and start over so that it would be perfect.
“Nothing less will do for my Maggie,” he was heard to say.
—1—
When Christmas Eve of 1918 finally arrived, Margaret had a surprise for her children. It was going on 9:00, and everyone was gathered around the Christmas tree. She smiled, handed a shiny red book to Murdock, and spoke.
“All right, children, before you go to bed your Papa has a treat for you; he’s gonna read a very special poem. It’s called The Night Before Christmas. It’s a Christmas poem written by a man named Clement Clarke Moore for his two daughters, nearly a hundred years ago; in 1822, if memory serves me.”
The wide-eyed children sat on the floor, right in front of Murdock’s rocker, stared up at him, and listened intently as he began to read:
“‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
“Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
“The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
“In hopes that Saint Nicholas soon would be there.
“The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
“While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.
As Murdock was reading in a soft, yet authoritative voice, Margaret sat peacefully watching her children listening in wonderment to their father. When he neared the end of the poem, a few minutes later, their faces were aglow and he looked up from the book and saw them. Then he looked back down and finished reading with more zeal, lowering the tone of his voice and upping its volume while being as dramatic as possible.
“He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
“And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
“But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
“HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT! ”
After Murdock finished reading the poem, the look he saw on his children’s faces told him that a new tradition had been born. And indeed it had; for, on every Christmas Eve from that year on, Murdock Haley read the enchanting poem to his children, and years later to his grandchildren. But the first time is said to be the best, and certainly you would not get an argument from any of the Haley children.
Before sending Leona to bed, Margaret decided that, like last year, her youngest daughter would again be given the honor of staying up a tad longer to prepare a plate of cookies and a glass of milk to leave by the tree for Santa.
“Leona, I baked a fresh batch of cookies this morning. Why don’t you fetch a plate and glass from the cupboard, and fix Santa a nice snack; then you can set it on the table next to the tree so he can find it with little trouble.”
After Leona poured a glass of milk and grabbed some cookies out of her mother’s large cookie jar, she walked to the living room, placed the snack on the table, and returned to the kitchen.
“Okay, Mama. I fixed the snack for Santa.”
“That’s good, dear. Now, scoot off to bed so you can get up early and open your presents. And let’s hope Santa brings you children presents.”
“I’m sure he will,” Leona said. “We’ve all been real nice this year.”
“Well, I hav’ta admit that you girls have, but I’m not sure about little Wally. Hopefully Santa won’t punish you for the sins of your brother.”
Leona laughed and then hurried off to bed. Long after she was asleep, the Haleys checked to see if their other children were also asleep, and then they headed for the living room. When she saw the plate of cookies, Margaret laughed.
“Oh my, Murdy! Look what Leona did! There must be more than a dozen cookies on the plate for Santa.”
“Well, I guess he’ll be a very happy fella when he visits our house tonight,” he laughed.
“I’ll say!” she replied. “But I’m not so sure he’s gonna be as happy trying to climb back up the chimney after eating all those cookies.”
“You got that right, Maggie. Oh, look what Leona left by the plate.”
“What’s that?” she asked.
“It’s a note; it says: Santa, these cookies and milk are for you. Enjoy! Oh, one more thing, I’ve been real nice!’ Your friend: Leona Haley.”
Murdock and Margaret had a good laugh and headed off to an early bed, knowing full well that they would be getting up much earlier than usual in the morning.