The gift of Joy

I received an early Christmas present last week. It was one I really wanted. In fact, I wanted it so much that I went out and got it. But it wasn't something I could buy for myself.

Okay, I confess, I have been known to wrap up presents and put them under the tree with my name on them. Okay, lots of presents over the years.

However, this particular gift isn't offered in stores.

Each year at this time, Smith County Medical Alliance teams up with Discovery Science Place to host a party around a Sensory Tree.

What exactly is a Sensory Tree? Good question.

It is a Christmas tree decorated with all the senses in mind. Not just visually pleasing, it is wrapped in other delights that stimulate all the senses.

Besides the usual twinkly lights and shining, colorful ornaments, there are also cinnamon sticks and doilies filled with potpourri for those who can smell, but cannot hear.

There are jingle bells and battery-powered, musical ornaments for those who can hear, but cannot see.

There are soft, fuzzy teddy bears and bristly pine cones to touch.

Many of the ornaments were made by Girl Scout troups who volunteered to help.

A train toots as it circles the tree.

Why in heaven's name, go to so much trouble over a Christmas tree, as if trees aren't already enough trouble for the person decorating them? (Okay, my Grinch got loose for a second there.)

Because some good-hearted doctors' wives heard about a sensory tree somewhere else and loved the idea. They thought perhaps the teachers and parents of special needs kiddoes could use a reminder that someone cares about them and their kiddoes.

DSP donates their space each year to make the event a reality, providing the perfect, safe, child-friendly place for children to relax, explore, play, and learn.

This year they were joined by Tyler Area American Band, the John Tyler Men and Women's Choral Ensemble, the Robert E. Lee Fiddlers, and the Hubbard Husky Orchestra. Students from Hubbard's International Baccalaureate program also served as tour guides.

The musicians filled every room with holiday music.

The children filled the rooms with laughter.

Children lay on the floor to feel the vibrations of the fiddles or danced with their hands waving in the air.

Fingers flew as teachers and children signed their excitement.

Did you know the sign for the "shh" is just the one you would expect? Their teachers were using it a lot because it seems that hearing-impaired children are just as noisy as other children when they are having fun together.

Wheelchairs were scooted up closely to instruments so little ones could touch.

Santa and Mrs. Claus, alias John and Thelma Ruth Childs, came and pronounced every single child "a very good, ho, ho, ho" boy or girl.

Lovingly prepared, each child received a fuzzy, handmade stocking filled with pixy sticks, to avoid choking hazards, and brightly-colored, often noisy, trinkets.

Throughout the place, there is a spirit of joy that is not limited by physical realities.

While it may not be the case with most of us, these special needs kiddoes live a life that is measured in small joys, joys that are unrelated to physical circumstances.

For their parents and teachers, it is a practiced lifestyle. Their joy is a daily perspective that requires inner discipline.

So, if you think that it is the staff and board members at Discovery Science Place or the doctors' spouses, or even the young people who volunteer to help, bringing with them their talents and their gentle hearts, who are the source of all that joy, you would be only half correct.

The real story is the joy the volunteers receive by being there.

The gift of joy. Brought to the event and delivered by children whose physical challenges are balanced by a special gift only a Loving Father could design.

The gift of joy. Passed along by parents, siblings and teachers who are practiced in it.

Sometimes in life it is necessary to take the gifts we want. They are offered. It is up to us to receive them.

May you and I receive what we really want this season and throughout the year.

Checklist Charlie, aka Cathy Primer Krafve, lives in Flint with her family. She welcomes all lists and comments at CAEKrafve2@aol.com