While Grams was dusting, doing laundry, and just generally cleaning house today, I ran across some photos of my kids in Christmas pageants. I have a couple of them framed in my living room and they were dusty. It reminded me of how much I loved their school performances and how much I miss them. See, my kids are not kids any more. Katy is 31 and Nick is 29. It's been many years since they were in school programs of any kind.
So I spent a little time looking through my albums and boxes of old photos looking for the pictures from these treasured memories.
The stories of my two children and their various performances are vastly different. Here's Katy's stage debut at day care.
Nick's was a little different. He's supposed to be standing in line with the other kids on the stage. Instead, he's sitting on the front of the stage and smiling as the crowd giggles at him.
For at least two years, Katy was an angel in the Christmas pageant. It was a non-speaking role. I like to think that real angels have beautiful red hair that glows like hers. She always wanted to be the Blessed Virgin, but I think the role of an angel fit her perfectly.
Nick played the little gray donkey that carried Mary to Bethlehem. This was the Nativity story told from the animals' point of view.
Katy and Nick were both elves at various times.
Over the years there were many other performances. I have pictures from some that I don't even remember.
And then there was my absolute favorite Christmas Pageant ever!
Nick was in kindergarten at Annaville Elementary School. It was a neighborhood school with a real family feeling. Everyone knew everyone. We were neighbors and friends. The school has been closed for several years now as the district has moved to a primary, intermediate, and middle school format. The kindergarten school pageant was always a big event. Families crowded into the cafetorium and strained to see their little ones on stage. Because there were so many kids, the performance had several acts. All the kids in Nick's group were dressed in clown costumes because they were Jacks-In-The-Box. Moms had sewn the costumes and the kids had rehearsed for hours. Nick was a very cute clown. In fact, all the kids were just precious as only kindergartners can be.
The program started and the kids sang their song. I don't remember what the song was, but the kids were performing beautifully. During the song, the Jacks were to pop in and out of their boxes several times. All was going well until the little girl next to Nick tried to pop-up out of her box and fell over. As you can see in the picture above, she's already having trouble with her hat falling in her face. What happened next was heart-warming and touching. Nick looked over and saw that she had fallen and was crying because she was embarrassed. It was then that he purposely knocked his own box over and fell right next to her on the stage. You see, he realized that she was embarrassed and thought that she would feel better if she wasn't the only one who fell. The crowd laughed a little then broke into spontaneous applause.
While what some people saw was Nick clowning around, I saw the kindness that is innate in his personality. I've never really had to worry about him being a bully or not standing up for the underdog, because it's just part of who he is to be kind and generous.
I do so wish that I had that performance on video. But this is one of those cases where I try to do as Luke 2:19 tells us the Blessed Virgin did. "Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart." For me, it was the best Christmas pageant ever.
I can't wait until Our Little Princess and her sister have school performances. You can bet I'll be there if possible.
