A Wish Come True Abbie Creed   © Copyright 2023 by Abbie Creed

Photo courtesy of the author.

This is a childhood memory of a Christmas I remember so vividly. It took place during the second World War, when my father was seriously ill, three of my five brothers were in the military stationed overseas, and children were experiencing frequent air raid drills. It was a scary time in our history but for one little girl, Santa Claus became real!

When the Christmas Toy Catalogue arrived the year, I was 10- or 11-year-old and maybe still believing in Santa Claus or maybe was just faking it to protect my little sister. A picture of a Sonya Henie doll caught my eye. She was a very popular ice skater in those days. All My friends and I used to get together with our roller skates in tow and head for the swimming pool in the nearby park. When there was no water in the pool, it became a roller-skating rink for the kids. We practiced Sonya Henie’s famous one leg bird pose, with our arms stretched out to look like wings. Most of us could never accomplish doing it but we didn’t give up trying. There were always bumps and bruises to prove our efforts.

I surely did want that doll, but I knew it was expensive and that Santa may have had to settle for something else for me for the occasion. However, on Christmas morning, as my little sister and I came down the steps from upstairs, we could see the Christmas tree lights and the tinsel decorations on the tree, reflected in the mirror on the wall in the hallway and I could already see toys under the tree. But I screamed with delight as I spied the doll trunk that was for me. I was so excited I could hardly open it. What a surprise! It was a Sonya Henie doll and lots of clothes on little hangers. She was dressed in a nurses outfit with the little white nurse’s cap and a stethoscope around her neck. There were two little drawers at the bottom of the trunk. In the top drawer were her ice skates, a pair of roller skates, and all her shoes. In the other drawer was her accessories, such as hats and mittens. The outfits were so beautiful; there was a prom dress, two skating outfits, besides the nurse outfit that she had worn, and I think there were one or two other outfits as well. What a perfect day! My dream came true!

Never, in my wildest imagination, could I have even dreamed to get this doll. It wasn’t until I was an adult, that I learned how that gift was made possible. My brother Joe was stationed overseas during World War 11. He was in the army field artillery at that time. He sent his pay home for my aunt to put in the bank and save for a little nest egg, until the war was over. That Christmas he knew times were hard because my mother had died after my 8-year-old little sister was born and my father was bed-ridden with Parkinson’s disease. My aunt and uncle had moved in with us during the depression. Joe told her to buy Santa Claus gifts for me and my little sisters. We each received what we had wished for. There really was a Santa Claus and he was thousands of miles from home.