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Handmade Elf

Old 12-11-2010, 05:13 AM
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I made this little fellow when my kids were small... and he's very special to our family especially my daughter. I also wrote stories about how the elf... "Georgie the Smallest Christmas Elf" saved Christmas for so many children. Then I illustrated them and read them a new story each Christmas Eve.

In 2002 George was mailed to Erin who was going to school in British Columbia and he rode home in a pocket of her backpack, all the way to Newfoundland, making friends in four airports and airplanes!

This year Erin is faraway again... 4 and 1/2 time zones to the East of me this time in Northern France. She is teaching there and will not be home for Christmas this year. So I packed him in her Christmas package and sent him to France, right now he's waiting in a post office for her to come pick him up. She has no idea he's on his way.

Now I have to get busy and write her a little Christmas story starring our favorite little elf of course. I'll put it in her in box on Facebook just as she starts to open the package. We're doing a SKYPE session when she gets the box to her apartment.

I think this may be a Christmas tradition for awhile! With two children who love to travel and work in faraway places, Georgie could become a world traveller!

I'll post some pics of Erin and Georgie when she gets him!
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Old 12-11-2010, 05:28 AM
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What a great idea! Georgie is like those travelling garden gnomes. He can have his picture taken all over the world.
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Old 12-11-2010, 05:29 AM
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What a wonderful holiday tradition! DD will be so happy to see Georgie again :D:D:D
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Old 12-11-2010, 05:36 AM
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what a great tradition you have. I think Georgie is adorable, and I would love hearing all the stories you've made up. Merry Xmas!!
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Old 12-11-2010, 05:46 AM
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Thats such a neat tradition!
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Old 12-11-2010, 06:01 AM
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On his passport do you list his home as the Northpole?
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Old 12-11-2010, 06:12 AM
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Fun!
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Old 12-11-2010, 06:20 AM
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Originally Posted by clem55
what a great tradition you have. I think Georgie is adorable, and I would love hearing all the stories you've made up. Merry Xmas!!
Here's one from 1993!

Merry Christmas 1993

Each Christmas for a number of years I wrote a Christmas story for Ryan and Erin. This one, my favourite came from 1993. Hope you enjoy it!

Dear Ryan and Erin,
It’s hard to believe another year has gone by since we last celebrated Christmas. But what fun we had decorating the house this year! And of course the special little elf, Georgie has a place of honour again! Have you noticed how proudly he sits on the mantle? It’s almost as though he’s watching over our Christmas hustle and bustle. But that’s not surprising since the real Georgie has got such an important job at the North Pole. Santa relies on Georgie to keep everything straight for him and while that would probably be enough for any average elf, not only does Georgie run the workshop, keep the lists current and make sure the reindeer are trained, exercised and fed and groomed and... (well you get the idea), he has also taken on another important job. A long time ago Georgie decided that he would keep watch on the children and try to make everyone’s Christmas as merry as can be!

Well, you know by now that Georgie is a special elf with a heart that’s bigger than Christmas and even though he’s the smallest elf at the North Pole (and he’s been full-grown for years!) He works as hard as twenty elves making Christmas a very special time for everyone. Sometimes Georgie’s big heart and hard work can make such a difference that the people who are touched by his kind-hearted work will have to agree that Georgie has saved Christmas for them. Once you are touched by Georgie’s magic the Christmas spirit lives in you forever!

Of course my favourite tale of Georgie saving Christmas is one that touched three little girls in
Newfoundland. You’ve heard me tell this story before but I thought you’d like to have it written
down so that you’ll be able to tell your children how Georgie saved Christmas for your Mom,
Aunt Lois and Aunt Marnie....

I wasn’t very old but I remember it like it was yesterday. It was a week before Christmas and just like this year it was looking very much like it was going to be a green Christmas. It was very
warm and wet - NO SNOW! And it also meant that Poppy ( my dad) was still working at his road
construction. HE was due home any day now and we were delighted. It had been a long, long
year! He got home to us every second weekend and it seemed like the days just dragged between his trips home. With Christmas and Dad’s homecoming fast approaching there were three very excited little girls!

We were still living in our old house - that big monster of a place and just as it seemed the house was going to explode from all our antics the phone rang and the house went immediately silent. The phone was at the bottom of the staircase and Mom had to walk from the pantry through the kitchen and down a long hallway to answer the phone so by the time she got there everyone was waiting to find out who was calling.

Back then the phone wasn’t used like it is today. Now-a-days there’s a phone in every room and
it rings a zillion times a day as people call whenever the whim strikes them. It wasn’t always like
that. Children never used the phone. Or for that matter even answered it. It rang very rarely and when it did you knew there was going to be important news to tell when Mom hung up the
receiver..

This time the news wasn’t good. It was Dad with the sad tale that because of the mild weather he was asked to stay and work a little longer, but he promised that he’d be home on Christmas Eve. Well, if you wanted to see three sad little girls - there we were! It seemed like all the fun had gone out of Christmas and now there was nothing left for us to do but wait for Christmas Eve.

And what a wait it was! Mom tried her best to cheer us up but she had quite the task! One of the neighbours ( I am pretty sure it was Bax Chaffey) brought us a tree and Mom put it up with the help of us three, but it just wasn’t the same.

Finally Christmas Eve came and we jumped out of bed just as excited as if it was Christmas Day! But Mom wasn’t very happy. It was awhile before we noticed the snow, but overnight it had started to come down and just like this year our green Christmas had become a postcard-perfect white Christmas. All over Newfoundland I bet people were rejoicing over the snow, but in our house a real gloom settled. As young as we were, we knew that snow meant slippery roads and snow drifts and slow driving. Thirty years ago the snow plows would wait until it stopped snowing before going out to clear the roads and it was just our luck - it was still snowing.

All day we watched and waited and strained our ears and then watched some more...

And with what was happening where Dad was, it was just as well we didn’t know, because it
would have just depressed us more.

He was on his way just as he promised but the snow kept falling so thick and heavy that he was
moving at just a snail’s pace. Just as it seemed he could move a little faster he’d come upon a car stuck in a snow drift. And since it was Christmas Eve and my Dad was such a helpful man, he’d stop and help the people dig out their cars and get them on their Christmas journeys once again. Of course, this really slowed him down and the trip that usually took about 6 hours was going on forever, Once or twice he got stuck and had to dig his own way through the drifts.

Finally he turned off unto the Port Blandford road and was on the final part of his journey. It was dark by now and he was exhausted, hungry and worried about us waiting at home. He kept thinking about us and how he had to get home. He knew that no matter how many gifts we had to unwrap what we really wanted for Christmas was to have our Daddy home with us.

And then it happened. I know it seems impossible but the storm got worse. The wind began to
howl. It whipped up the snow and plastered it against his windshield. The wipers just couldn’t
keep the windows clear and even if they could he just would not have been able to see more than two or three feet ahead. It seemed as if he would have to spend the night in the car and we were going to be without our Dad on Christmas.

Just as he was about to give up and stop the car something miraculous happened. A little beam of light brighter than any headlight seemed to penetrate the snow and Dad could see the road ahead. The snow was still swirling and the windshield still blocked, but he could see!

Amazed, he began to follow the beam, hoping with all his heart that he wasn’t hallucinating and
found for the first time all day he actually knew where he was on the road. The drifts were still
there and the storm still raged but it seemed that he was moving faster than he had all day.
Sometimes the light bobbed and dipped but it was always there and before he knew it he was at the intersection by the Salvation Barracks in Musgravetown! He could walk from here if he had to!

Back at our house we had stood with our noses pressed against the window for so long that Mom had finally told us to go get ready for bed before we froze on to the window pane. We were just turning away when we caught sight of a light reflected in Jessie Chaffey’s store window. Could it be? The light grew brighter and the car came around the turn and stopped by our gate. It was! It was!

How happy we were to hug this cold wet giant! It was hard to believe that he was finally home.
After he warmed up a bit he told us about his journey. When he got to the part about the light that bobbed and dipped and led him safely he home he shook his head in wonder. He couldn’t imagine what it could have been but I just smiled....

You see, just as my Daddy stopped his car, I saw a little fellow all dressed in green switch off his lantern and as he flew away he waved and smiled. I just know it was Georgie the Littlest Christmas Elf who saved Christmas for us. Don’t you?

Georgie knows that all the toys in Santa’s pack won’t put a smile on a child’s face if what they
really want is to have a loved one home for Christmas.

And now you know why no matter how old I get I’ll always believe in the magic of Christmas!

Merry Christmas, my little darlings!

Copyright 2009 Lori O’Brien
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Old 12-11-2010, 06:49 AM
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This is a great story. I will read it to my grandchildren tonight. :-D
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Old 12-11-2010, 07:09 AM
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Wow, what talent you have. You have used it to enrich your childrens lives but also this old woman's life this morning!
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