A Dot Calm Christmas story

Once upon a time, long long ago, when Dot and Mr. Calm had been happily married for some ten or eleven years (give or take), the family was joyfully preparing for Christmas.

As usual for that time of year, Mr. Calm had, like many of his neighbors, hung cheery Christmas lights along the eaves of the family's suburban home and on some of the outdoor trees and shrubs.

Then, something unusual happened: one morning, Mr. Calm noticed that someone had taken the bulbs from the Christmas lights.

He dutifully replaced the bulbs that evening, before dark, only to find more missing bulbs the next morning.

He mentioned it to one of his neighbors, who told him that several houses on the block had also had Christmas bulbs taken.

Mr. Calm laid a trap for the culprits by putting out more bulbs and watching for the thief.

At this point, he was down to so many orange and purple bulbs that the decorations looked gruesome--more appropriate for Halloween than Christmas. But he persevered.

The daughters sat upstairs, waiting for their hero-dad to spring the trap. What would he do to the culprits? Would he come down on them like a ton of bricks?

The mood became more and more tense as Mr. Calm held his night-time vigil.

Finally--success! The minute Mr. Calm spied bulbs being removed from his Christmas lights, he scrambled out of his hiding place and collared two neighborhood boys, neither of whom were known to the family.

Was he going to hit them? Yell? Or just scare the pudding out of them? Though gentle by nature, Mr. Calm could be very intimidating when he needed to be.

Dot Calm went to the door and called out,
"Bring them inside."

Dutifully, Mr. Calm did.

The daughters, who were under strict instructions to stay upstairs, peeked through the railings, straining to see and hear what was going on.

What would Dot Calm say to these young thieves?

"Would you like some hot chocolate?"

It was spoken softly, invitingly.

Confused, the boys looked at each other...and nodded meekly to Dot Calm. Caught red-handed by Mr. Calm, the last thing in the world they expected was gentle kindness...not to mention everyone's favorite--hot chocolate--on that frosty December night.

She beckoned them all into the kitchen and fixed them all hot chocolate.

As she did so, and as the boys warmed up, she began chatting with them and asking them questions--very gently, very softly, very kindly. It was clear that she wanted only to understand and connect with the boys--not judge them.

This was so typical of Dot Calm--animals and children were drawn to her. They clustered to her and followed her around. They knew she would never harm them.

So the boys opened up. It turned out that the boys were not Catholic, like the Calms, and had felt jealous of their neighbors who celebrate Christmas. They were jealous of all the lights and Christmas trees and stockings laden with presents. That was why they had gone around taking Christmas bulbs.

"You'll have to return all those bulbs,"
Mr. Calm calmly said.

The boys nodded and promised to bring the bulbs back the next evening.

Dot Calm was always handy with the right lesson whenever a teaching moment came up. She asked the boys about their holiday traditions and told them about neighbors and school-mates of the same faith she had grown up with. She reminded them that their holiday traditions are beautiful and special, too, and that Christian children might just as easily be jealous of them.

The boys smiled.

Dot Calm sent the boys home with Christmas cookies and candy canes.

True to their word, the boys came back the next evening, asking for Mr. Calm--as promised, they had brought back all the Christmas bulbs they had taken. Of course, since there was no way to sort whose were whose, Mr. Calm's Christmas lights still ended up looking hideous enough for Halloween, but it didn't matter to the family at that point. To them, they were the best Christmas lights ever because they had seen the true Christmas spirit--and Dot Calm's unfailing love and compassion--shared with neighborhood boys who really needed it.

That didn't stop Mr. Calm from replacing the Christmas bulbs the following year.
I guess Dot Calm wasn't the only one
with OCD in the family.

The end!