Christianity Oasis Forum

[Guest]

In September 1960 I woke up one morinin with six hungry babies and just $.75 cents in my pocket. Their father was gone. The boys ranged from three months to seven years, their sister was two. Their dad had never been much more then a prescnce they feared. Whenever they heard his tires crunch on the gravel diriveway they would scramble to hide under their beds. He did manage to leave 15 dollars a week to buy groceries. Now that he had decided to leave there would be no more beatings, but no food either. If there was a welfare system in effect in southern indiana at that time. I cerntainly knew nothing about it. I scubbed the kids until they looked brand new and then put on my best homemade dress. I loaded them into the rusty old 51 Chevy and drove off to find a job. The seven of us went to every factory, store and restaurant in our small town. No luck

The kids stayed crammed into the car and tried to be quiet while I tried to convince whom ever would listen that I was willing to learn or do anything. I had to have a job. Still no luck. The last place we went to just a few miles out of town, was an old root beer barrel drive in that had been converted to a truck stop. It was called the Big Wheel. An old lady named granny owned the place and she peeked out of the window from time to time at all those kids. She needed someone on the graveyard shift. At 11 at night until seven in the morning. She paid 65 centsan hour and I could start that night.

I raced home and called the teenager down the street that baby sat for people. I bargained with her to come and sleep on my sofa for a dollar a night. She could arrive with her pajamas on and the kids would already be asleep. This seemed like a good arrangment to her so we made a deal. That night when and the little one and i knlt to say our prayers we all thanked God for finding mommy a job. And so I started at the Big wheel. When I got home in the mornings I woke the baby sitter up and sent her home with one dollar of my tip money fully half of what i aveager every night As the weeks went by heating bills add another strain to my meager wage. The tires on the old chevy had the consitency of penny balloons and began to leak I had to fill them with air on the way to work and again every morning before i could go home.

One bleak fall morning I dragged myself to the car to go home and found four tires in the back seat. New tires! there was no note no nothing just thouse beautiful brand new tires. Had angels taken upresidence in Indiana? I woundered. I made a deal with the owner of the local service station. In exchange ofr his mounting the new tires, I would clean up his office. I remember it took me a lot longer to crub his floor then it did for him to do the tires.

I was now wroking six nights instead of five and it still wan't enough. Cristmas was coming and I knew there would be no money for toys for the kdis. I found a can of red paint and started repairing and painting some old toys. Then I hid them in the basement so there would be something for Santa to deliver on chrismas morning. Clothes were a worry too I was sewing patches on top of patches on the Boys pants ans soon they would be too far gone to reair

On christmas Eve the usual were drinking coffee in the Big Wheel. These were the truckers, Les, FRank, and Jim. and a state trooper named joe. A few musicians were hanging around after a gig at the legion and were dropping nickels in the pinball machine. The Requlars all just sat around and talked though the wee hours of the moring and then left to get home before the sun came up

When it was time for me to go home at severn o'clock on christmas morning. I hurred to the car. I was hopning the kids wouldn't wake up befor I managed to get home and get the presents from the basement and place them under the tree.(We had cut down a samll cedar tree by the side of the road down by the dump) It was still dark and I couldn't see much but the appeared to be some dark shadows in the car or was that the just a trick of the night? something certainly looked different but it was hard to tell what.
When I reaced the car I peered warily into one of the side windows. Then my jaw dropped in amazenment. My old battered Chevy was full full to the tope with boxes of all shpes and sizes. I quickly 9opened the driver's side door scrambled inside and kneeled in the front facing the back seat. Reaching back, I pulled off the lid of the top box. Inside was a whole cas of little blue jeans sizes 2-10! I looked inside another box it was full of shirts to go with the jeans. then i peeked inside some of the other boxes. There were candy and nuts and bananas and bag of groceries. There was an enrmus ham for baking and canned vegetables and potatoes. There was pudding and jell-o and cookes pie filling and flour. there was a whole bag of laundry supplies and cleaning items. And there were five toy trucks and one beequtifull little doll.

As I drove back through empty streets as the sun slowly rose on the most amzing chritmas day of my life. I sobbing with gratitude and I will never forget the joy on the faces of my little ones that precous morning. Yes there were angels in Indiana that long ago december. And they all hung out at the Big Wheel truck stop.

I Believe in angles! They live next door around the corner work in your office patrol your neighborhood call you at midnight to here you laugh and listen to you cry teach your childern and you see them everyday without even knowing it.