Each Christmas season I make a special post to my KYRESEARCH genealogy group of some 2,000 subscribers. As my gift to you this holiday season, I am sending it to you in the hopes that it might bring you some pleasure. I can't attach it as rootsweb doesn't allow attachments (spam and viruses) so I am copying it here. I hope I don't go over your mailbox size. Sandi A CHRISTMAS EVE MYSTERY As has been my custom over the years, about this time of year, I take a break from the heavy data, lean back in my computer chair, let one of my cats snuggle up on my lap, take a sip of steaming coffee and take you back to an era in Kentucky none of us had the privilege of seeing. You're allowed to get your coffee now, put on some Christmas music and travel along with me. It was Christmas Eve 2006 in a rather typical home in Kentucky. The mother is totally wiped out as it's her year to host the family for Christmas dinner. She had made several trips to the grocery store picking up ingredients she'd forgotten and wishing she had decided to take everyone out to the restaurant instead. Her nerves were frayed, the legs aching and her patience at the snapping point. Curled up in front of the plasma television was Dad, watching yet another football game, surely the 5th today. He was totally oblivious to the trauma being played out in the kitchen until the peace was shattered by the slamming of the front door, letting in a blast of cold December air. In burst their two "beloved" children who were not exactly the model of what they expected to come with parenthood, at least not at this instant! Sarah, age 14, was screaming at her brother John, age 17. Dad turns the television volume up louder to hear over their sibling spatting and Mom in the kitchen slams the door shut into the kitchen to keep her sanity. Finally, not being able to stand it one minute more, she storms into the living room, turns off the television (getting Dad's attention immediately) and tells Sarah and John to "freeze!" In total shock, everyone sits down staring at Mom. "Gee Mom, what gives?" Mom demands an explanation of their behavior and soon learns that they had just returned from the mall and all of the stores were out of John's IPOD - or whatever it was he wanted; and Sarah was out of money and her dearest darling brother wouldn't loan her any money. Their "want list" was atrocious this year as peer pressure had set in to get the latest electronic fad, buy the most expensive shoes, Sarah even wanted her lip pierced! Where had old-fashioned values and simple toys given way to two snarling young people who were nothing like those precious and excited little children on Christmas eve of years ago? Finally, Dad took over and after a lecture on the value of money and giving was better than receiving (of course watching the clock wondering if he'd missed a touchdown!) he told the children to settle down and behave. Sarah and John just turned their backs and stormed back out the front door. But wait. What was this? Where was the family car? Where were all the Christmas lights? Where were all the houses? They were standing totally dumbfounded in a clearing in a forest. It was cold, very cold. There were no beckoning lights and sounds of carols playing from the nearby church tower. They turned around rapidly, ready to run back inside their warm and comfortable house, but - there was no house. In its place stood a rundown and patched up cabin. No Christmas tree shone through the living room window, in fact there was only one widow they could see and it didn't even have glass in it. A buggy stood in the shadows by one side of the cabin and two shivering horses pranced nervously waiting to start a trip - to someplace. Smoke curled from the chimney, snow was starting to fall lightly. Where were they? What had happened? Shivering themselves, Sarah and John decided to seek shelter in this cabin where they could at least warm up a bit and figure out what had happened to them. They knocked on the door and after what seemed an eternity, a woman peered through a small peep hole in the wall before unbolting the door. She swung the heavy door open and stood before them. Her hair was straggling around her face, her eyes spoke of great fatigue. She seemed quite surprised to see them but invited them inside out of the ever heavy snow. Sarah and John cautiously entered and what they saw caused their mouths to drop wide open. Instead of their lovely home with television, carpeting, a roaring fireplace with poinsettias gracing the mantle; they were in the middle of the only room in the entire cabin. The floor was dirt! In one corner 2 makeshift cots were stretched out. In the loft above they could see, in the ever-increasing darkness, the smiling faces of 5 little children, all peering down at them in amusement and curiosity. All the children were cleanly attired but their clothes showed that they had been hand-made and handed down several times. In the back was a large fireplace with a huge kettle hanging from a hook and a large ladle lying nearby indicating that the lady had been stirring some homemade stew from the aroma of it. A man was sitting at the wooden table, the only furniture in the house. He was bent over a book, writing something as if in a journal. He looked up and welcomed them, thinking of course that they young people had taken a wrong path through the woods and had become lost. The father introduced himself as Samuel Jenkins and then turned to introduce his wife Elizabeth. The five smiling children soon had names of Jonathan, Peter, Susan, Penelope and baby Abraham. The older children came shyly down the stairs carrying Abraham, only two. They all gathered around Sarah and John having never seen clothes like this. Why Sarah was wearing janes! They had never seen a lady wear men's janes before! And John had on a tee-shirt which was unlike anything they had ever seen in their short lives! After a reminder from the father that it was impolite to stare, he invited Sarah and John to sit on the floor by the fire to warm their chilled bones. Then they tried to sort everything out. Sarah and John asked where they were and when they were told, they knew that some very, very strange had happened. Samuel explained that they were in Smithville KY. Well, that's unusual; that's where Sarah and John were from. When they asked what year it was, Samuel smiled and said, "why, it's 1865 of course!" No!!!! It's 2006 they cried out in unison. Now it was time for Samuel to be taken aback. Somehow these two youngsters had walked back in time, but why? How? Samuel invited them to dinner; it wasn't much for the seven of them to share with the two unusual people sharing their home, but they made do. Samuel said that they needed to hurry though since they had deliveries to make yet and the horses were growing restless. So, they hurriedly ate their small bowl of stew with a piece of homemade bread and a glass of goat's milk and prepared to leave for this mysterious trip. Elizabeth found some warmer clothes that almost fit so John and Sarah wouldn't catch their death of a cold and somehow they all fit into the wagon. Baby Abraham was bundled under a handmade quilt with only his rosy cheeks showing. In the darkness could be seen the outline of something stacked up, packed and covered. With a gitty-up Nellie, the wagon lurched forward off into the woods. Somehow Samuel knew the way without so much as a light and the horses nimbly picked their way over rocks and fallen branches, sometimes jolting the wagon so much that John and Sarah knew they were all going to fall off. With blankets thrown over their legs and around their shoulders, they still were frozen and wondering where they were going ….. and why? For the next two hours the routine was the same; a gitty-up, a lurch, a long ride in the darkness with snow falling ever more densely around them and a stop. Then a stop in front of another little old cabin with one window, with smoke curling from the chimney and a heavy door opening. But with each stop, everyone would alight from the wagon, reach into the back and pull out a slab of bacon, some beef jerky, a quilt, a bottle of goat's milk, an outgrown pair of shoes; John and Sarah didn't know what would appear from that stack. They were greeted at each cabin, all so far apart, by thankful smiles and God bless you. Finally, the stack was gone and all fell quiet as the wagon full of seven family members and two guests started back on the long trek back to the cabin. Finally, John found his nerve and asked Samuel, "Sir, what does this mean, why are you doing this?" Samuel paused a few minutes as if trying to put it in words and finally spoke up. He told of families that had been experiencing a rough year. Many of the young men in the family hadn't returned from the Civil War, leaving young families far from their families and young mothers trying to eke out a living somehow to feed their children. Some of the families were elderly and too weak to work as hard as they used to. It had been a rough year and food was short. Samuel had worked hard all year and laid aside all he could possibly save back to help out his neighbors. He knew by the flight of the birds, the time the leaves fell and how the animals were acting that this was going to be a bad winter. This was their family's way of just being neighborly. When Sarah asked what his own children were going to get, was there going to be any gifts for them or something special to bring them joy through the rough months ahead, Samuel and Elizabeth just smiled and reached into a bag at mother's feet. She drew out an apple for each child except the baby that she was bought at the mercantile; trading in some of her woven shawls in exchange. Then she found a little doll for the girls made of corn husks. The boys had a whittling knife that Dad had earned for helping at a barn raising for a neighbor, a gift of thanks from the farmer who had seen his barn burn to the ground in a thunderstorm. Sarah quietly asked what they were getting, the parents? "Why my goodness child, we have each other!" I have a strong man who works hard to provide for our family." And Samuel looked at Elizabeth lovingly and said, "now Liz, that's mighty kind of you, I have all the gifts I need in you, you take care of me and the children, you cook good fixins and you make me feel like a hero." :You're all I need." Soon, the wagon and all its occupants bumped its way to the family cabin. One by one the children climbed out and the baby handed down, now sound asleep. Samuel unhooked the horses and took them back to the barn to rub them down and give them some grain. Elizabeth and the children had gone into the cabin while Sarah and John were watching Samuel. They turned to open the heavy door and walked inside. "Where have you been" asked Dad. "Have you cooled off enough now that we can have a decent Christmas Eve?" Sarah and John's mouth flew open for the second time this night as they realized they were listening to a football game and Mom as coming through the door, not looking as tired as she had before. "It's almost time to eat if you'll act civil, she said. But no. Sarah and John had something to do. They against rushed out the door and made their way to the mall. Hurriedly they dashed from store to store - returning every gadget, every piece of mod attire … until they met at the front door of the mall and took off for the next stop. They rushed to the grocery store, getting there just minutes before the weary owner was about to put the "Closed" sign on the door. Taking a cart apiece, they dashed from aisle to aisle buying everything they could with the money they had. Marshmallows, hot chocolate, one small turkey, stuffing mix, a rattle and some baby formula, a box of diapers, some candy canes and … exactly five apples. They then jumped in the car and went to an area in town known as the "poor district, you know, the "other side of the tracks." Looking at the run-down houses, they took a deep breath and knocked on the door. After what seemed an eternity, a woman peered through a small window before unbolting the door. She swung the door open and stood before them. Her hair was straggling around her face, her eyes spoke of great fatigue. She seemed quite surprised to see them but invited them inside out of the ever heavier snow. Sarah and John cautiously entered and what they saw caused their mouths to drop wide open. They were in the middle of the only room in the entire house. The floor was old linoleum. In one corner 2 makeshift cots were stretched out. From the corner of the room they could see, in the ever-increasing darkness, the smiling faces of 5 little children, all peering at them in amusement and curiosity. All the children were cleanly attired but their clothes showed that they had been hand-made and handed down several times. In the back was a large old stove but there was nothing cooking. A man was sitting at the wooden table, the only furniture in the house. He was bent over a book, writing something as if in a journal. He looked up and welcomed them, thinking of course that they young people had taken a wrong path through the town and had become lost. Sarah and John handed them the sacks of groceries and headed for the door saying "be sure you give the apples to the children!" Merry Christmas one and all. Sandi