Beyond the Byline: A child’s Christmas wish left its mark

WILKES-BARRE — It seems like forever ago, but some experiences just never leave you, leaving an indelible mark on your heart.

I’ve had a few of those moments.

Several years back I was volunteering with the Make-A-Wish Foundation of NEPA. I clearly recall many of those “wish visits,” where we would go to the home of a family with a Wish Kid to find out what his or her wish was.

I remember going to a home in Hanover Township one year around Christmas time to visit a single mom with a couple of kids — good kids. Nice kids.

We were there to interview the mom about her son who was a Make-A-Wish kid, which meant in addition to everything else, this little boy was facing a life-threatening illness.

While my co-Wish volunteer talked to the mom, it was my job to talk to the child. The protocol was to take the child away from his parent(s) to ask the child what his/her wish was — what he or she really wanted.

This kid, who was about 5 years old at the time, looked at me and without hesitation, told me he wanted his mom and his sister to have a Merry Christmas.

When I recovered from hearing that and the realization of what was going on — evidenced by the fact that there was no Christmas tree in the house — I asked the boy what he meant.

This little boy then told me he wanted Santa Claus to bring his mom and his sister a Christmas tree and lots of presents.

Note that the little boy never asked for anything for himself, other than wishing for a Merry Christmas for his mom and sister.

I’ll never forget that kid. The family did, as the little boy requested, have a very Merry Christmas. And the little boy received his wish as well.

That story remains with me to this day. It’s a story about the true meaning of Christmas. Giving, not receiving. Caring about your fellow human beings, especially those in need.

Yes, I know that Christmas, for the Christian world, is a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. And that can never be forgotten. No matter what faith you subscribe to, keeping those traditions is always important.

But as we head to “the holidays,” we look forward to getting together with family and friends and exchanging gifts and spending quality time with people we care about. And many of us take time to do what we can for those who are in need and who also want to celebrate with their families and friends.

This got me to thinking about past Christmases when little Billy O’Boyle, being the spoiled only child of Elizabeth and Bill O’Boyle, would climb into bed on Christmas Eve to wait for Christmas morning to come.

At the crack of dawn, little Billy would jump out of his warm bed and run a few steps to the living room, and what to his wondering eyes would appear, but a room full of presents from Santa Claus. And, the cookies and milk he left were gone, sometimes a note was left from the jolly old elf, thanking little Billy for the snack.

Oh, those were glorious days of new bicycles, baseball gloves, games, toys and, yes, even some new clothes. Each present was wonderfully wrapped, but I disregarded the effort that went into the presentation of those gifts as I feverishly tore into them to see what was inside.

Whatever was inside, it was mine, all mine! Oh, thank you Santa. I knew I was a good boy!

I was also a very lucky boy. But when you’re a kid, you don’t really realize what all that means. You don’t realize just how lucky you are. You never think about all those other kids who are not nearly as fortunate as you are. All you want to do is open those presents and start playing.

And you want to call your pals and tell them what you got and hear what Santa brought them. It was a Christmas ritual.

Christmas morning was a time for all of us fortunate sons and daughters to rejoice in the goodness of Santa Claus and the benefits of being good boys and girls. At least we were able to convince Santa that we were far better than we actually were.

Somehow, the chubby guy in the red suit never got all the news about our occasional misbehaving. I guess the North Pole didn’t receive all the reports on most kids’ behavior.

But now, many Christmases later, I think about all of those good boys and girls who, through no fault of their own, have not been as fortunate as me and my pals on Reynolds Street in Plymouth back in the day.

I think about those kids who want, but rarely receive.

Those kids who ask and hope for Santa to bring them everything they desire, but don’t get nearly what they deserve.

And I think about that five-year-old in Hanover Township, battling a life-threatening disease, who asked that Santa bring a Christmas tree and presents for his mom and his sister.

Yeah, that’s who I’m thinking about.

And I’m gonna do what I can for a kid like that.

I hope you do too.