Little Red Fire Truck

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We really did not need money for Christmas.

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It was 1979, my kids were small, and I was alone and broke. But I had a good God.

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Some friends from back home in Virginia sent a box with a few toys in it. One of the toys was a nice red fire truck for my son.

It was a duplicate, since my son already had one.

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Since there was no food in the house, I went to a charity food give away place.

We had a 4 hour wait to get food.

While waiting, I met an old grandmother and her grandson and got to know them.

Her grandson lived with her, and had no presents. They seemed to be alone.

When we finally finished, I told her about the extra fire truck I had, and got her address so I could bring it over to her.

When I got there, I gave it to her secretly so she could wrap it and surprise her grandson on Christmas morning.

It was a nice feeling to see how happy she was with that fire truck.

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This seemed to set off a chain reaction.

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My refrigerator was also broke at the time, so I stored my food in the snow outside.

A friend and I had planned to share Christmas dinner, and each would bring something.

The local radio was looking for needy families, and I wrote in and told them my refrigerator was broken. Then I forgot about it. With all the letters the radio station should have gotten, I did not expect any reaction to the letter.

Soon after, someone came to fix it. I was glad and grateful too, since the local dogs discovered my food hiding place in the snow.

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The local church I attended gave me about 20 pounds of oranges they could not give away, so I came home with them, and wondered how long they would last, being fresh produce.

Since I could not possibly eat all the oranges, I start giving away the oranges to different people I knew.

Of course my friend got some oranges. They were really good ones.

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So far, I had shared a little red fire truck, and some oranges, and what I had for Christmas dinner, and ended up getting my refrigerator fixed.

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The next thing that happened is a church showed up at my door with food and presents. They were already wrapped, and the kids were so surprised.

My friend, in need herself, had told her church about me.
We put the presents around a decorated potted plant because there was no money for a Christmas tree.

The presents made the potted plant look really nice.

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I then went to my church again, and they gave me 50 pounds of potatoes they could not give away.

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I managed to get them all home, and start giving them away again, with a special prayer that God not send anything more to me.

I had my family, my friends, a fixed refrigerator, a kitchen full of food, and a “tree” with presents around it.

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The Spirit of Christmas had visited my house, and I was blessed.

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And it all started with a little red fire truck !!!!!

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For those that are worried about money and things, share what you have, and it will come back to you.

For those that don’t share, nothing will make you happy.

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God loves you,  and I do too.

Merry Christmas !!!

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