Bonanza Fan Fiction by “Southplains”

I heard the sound of Christmas today.

I work in the business office of a Texas state school for mentally retarded individuals.  At the beginning of December a coworker of mine had to have an emergency hysterectomy due to a diagnosis of uterine cancer.  The good news is that the surgery went very well, the doctors think they got every bit of the cancer, and she won’t even have to have chemo or radiation treatments.  The bad news is that she will be out for six to 8 weeks, which pans out to somewhere around the first of February.

This means that for the next two months I will be handling not only my own job duties, but hers as well.  I don’t mind doing this; truly, I don’t.  This is what coworkers and friends are for—pitching in and helping out.  It’s how we all get by in this world, and I’m happy to be able to assist.

But sometimes the reality of handling twice as many job duties becomes overwhelming, even with the best of intentions.  I’ve been so busy for these last two weeks that I’ve barely been able to look up from my desk, and many days I look up in surprise and realize that it’s time to go home even though I’ve still got work to finish.  The knowledge that I’ll have to continue in this manner for at least another month and a half looms over me like a mountain.  And of course trouble comes in bunches.  Another coworker badly sprained her ankle and was home on the couch this week; yet another one had to go in for jury duty, leaving us even more short-staffed.  Payroll for 800 employees arrived late, causing yet another rush when it finally did get here.  Time off lately is non-existent, which has further raised my frustration level.

“Here it’s Christmas time, and I’m not even able to spend any time with my family,” I’ve thought darkly more than once these past few weeks, and then I inevitably feel guilty about complaining.

I was hard at work today, feeling a bit sorry for myself as tension caused my neck and back to kink and cramp, when a sudden sound came from the hallway outside my office door.  The sound swelled and grew louder; a group of the school’s residents were serenading us with Christmas music!  Their voices were joyfully loud and uninhibited; their faces shone with the excitement of making others smile.  They sang ‘Walking in a Winter Wonderland, ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’ and other favorites.  Some of them knew all the words; some aren’t able to enunciate well enough to sing the lyrics, but they hummed along in one way or another.

As they sat or stood there in the hall with their voices raised in jubilant expression of the song ‘Silent Night’ and big grins on their faces, my priorities suddenly fell into place.   I was reminded of what makes Christmas special; indeed, what makes any day of the year special.  It’s doing what you can to make the day brighter for those weaker or less fortunate, and doing it with a smile and a glad heart.  And often it’s your own day that is brightened.

So today I had to be reminded how to keep my heart light and happy.  It’s a darn good thing I’ve got these people around to teach me.