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28 x December 15, 2016 - January 4, 2017 x www.SouthwestOrlandoBulletin.com<br />
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 27<br />
She turned to Charlotte and said,<br />
“Would you like to come stay in my house?<br />
We have plenty of room.”<br />
Charlotte and her children were overjoyed<br />
after hearing the offer, and after seeing<br />
the happiness in her children’s faces,<br />
Charlotte accepted. That day, Charlotte,<br />
Thomas, Mary and Rose went to live with<br />
Cassandra.<br />
A few weeks later, it was Christmas.<br />
The chefs were very busy preparing a<br />
large Christmas dinner for the many people<br />
living in Cassandra’s house. Inviting<br />
Charlotte and her children to live with<br />
her made Cassandra feel happy, so she<br />
continued searching for poor families in<br />
town, offering them rides in her carriage<br />
and a nice place to live at her house.<br />
By Christmas, the house was full of men,<br />
women and children who were grateful<br />
for Cassandra’s kindness. All of the people<br />
Cassandra had helped were in warm<br />
spirits.<br />
Adults were sitting by the fire, talking;<br />
children were merrily playing; and everyone<br />
was greatly anticipating the meal that<br />
was yet to come. The happiest person in<br />
the room was Cassandra. She was filled<br />
with joy at the sight of the people’s happy<br />
faces.<br />
Cassandra worked for the rest of her life<br />
to seek out people who needed help and<br />
give them places to stay and food to eat.<br />
Her home became known as The Carriage<br />
House, and people were always welcome<br />
to come in and stay for as long as they<br />
needed.<br />
Honorable Mention<br />
What Christmas Means to Me<br />
by Emily Meena<br />
Westover Club<br />
Ding! Oh, the delicious gingerbread<br />
cookies I’d been awaiting all season were<br />
ready to come out of the oven! I opened<br />
the oven and grinned as the mouthwatering<br />
scents of cinnamon and spices wafted<br />
into my nose. I pulled the long tray out of<br />
the oven and set it on the granite counter. I<br />
grazed my hands over the warm cookies,<br />
picked the perfect one, and popped the<br />
chewy goodness into my watering mouth.<br />
Christmas means many things to me. I love<br />
the holiday festivities and celebrations.<br />
Christmas means spending time with family,<br />
dong classic Christmas traditions — like<br />
decorating the tree, of course! — and<br />
giving to others.<br />
Spending time with family is a great<br />
way to create everlasting memories. I enjoy<br />
chattering about the true meaning of<br />
Christmas, a baby born to save the world,<br />
instead of worrying about if I’m going to<br />
receive the item I’ve been waiting for all<br />
year long.<br />
My family eats a feast Christmas night<br />
with refreshing sparkling cider, tender turkey,<br />
buttery rolls and freshly mashed potatoes.<br />
I like reading Christmas stories with<br />
them and excitedly waiting all season to<br />
have fun Christmas Day. We have a blast<br />
searching all over town to find the perfect<br />
tree, not too skinny or tall, with just the right<br />
number of branches to hang all our meaningful<br />
ornaments.<br />
Celebrating classic holiday traditions,<br />
like baking Christmas cookies and hanging<br />
sparkling lights outside to make our<br />
house glow, really help enhance the swollen<br />
excitement of the holiday season.<br />
Decorating our Christmas tree is one of<br />
my favorite things, carefully hanging delicate<br />
ornaments and stringing lights on<br />
the tall branches while listening to cheery<br />
Christmas music. It’s just a great way to<br />
bond with family. I love wrapping presents<br />
for others, using decorative wrapping<br />
paper, and placing the presents under<br />
the tree. Baking gingerbread and buttery<br />
shortbread cookies is definitely one of the<br />
best things to do during the busy holiday<br />
season. I like to decorate them with small,<br />
colorful sprinkles and use cookie cutters to<br />
mold them into festive shapes like angels,<br />
reindeer, bells, etc.<br />
After that, giving to others is a joyful<br />
thing. It produces a happy bond between<br />
you and the receiver. We give to<br />
celebrate how God sent His son so we<br />
could be saved and have eternal life with<br />
Him in heaven. I love seeing people open<br />
gifts I gave them and wearing a smile on<br />
their faces as they tear it open. When you<br />
give to others, it creates warm feelings all<br />
around. Plus, ripping open a delicately<br />
wrapped present and getting what you’ve<br />
always wanted is sure to bring a smile to<br />
your face.<br />
To sum it all up, Christmas has many<br />
heartfelt meanings. The music, exchanging<br />
of gifts, gobbling down a well-prepared<br />
feast — it’s all great, but it’s the holiday’s<br />
real meaning, Jesus, that is the joy of the<br />
Christmas season.<br />
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