From Joan Wilson

I was standing in the checkout line

My attitude was getting worse

I had no more patience left nor mind

And less and less money in my purse

*

People were pushing and shoving

With aching arms from my heavy basket

I had lost my Christmas spirit

And I didn’t even try to mask it

*

It was then I saw the little girl

Paying for a red haired dolly

But it was what happened next

That turned Christmas from sour to jolly

*

She told me she’d been here once

To buy medicine for her mother

She had hoped to have enough left

For something, a car, for her brother

*

“Daddy doesn’t send any money

So Mummy says toys are out.”

Right then, I seemed to remember

What Christmas was all about.

*

The cashier said, “There’s not enough

For your dolly and this toy car.”

I stepped in and said, “Check again.

You’re wrong. I know you are.”

*

I winked at her and she caught on.

Then, she counted the money, again.

“You’re absolutely right,” she said.

And I saw the little girl grin.

*

She was so happy she almost cried.

As I paid for the toys

I knew that I had found Christmas

Inside a small child’s joys.

*

PUBLISHER’s note: I do NOT remember writing this, although it did appear in my book “Buried Treasures”.