Write a story

But I did know about Christmas, for it was celebrated in schools. Chanukah was not, but
I doubt that I would have felt more a part of Chanukah than I did Christmas. I did not
belong with either.

On Christmas Eve my mother and father worked extra late delivering orders.

When Margaret was still with us Margaret came to us when she was sixteen because
her family could not afford to feed everyone she got room and board and 50 cents a
week she stayed with us until I was seven. Sometimes she put a handkerchief over
my head and took me to the Catholic Church with her.

Christmas Eves we took the bus over to her house. Christmas was a big event for
Margarets family. As poor as they were, they would have a gift for me. Once there was
an unboxed present wrapped in paper, and they asked me if I knew what it was. From
spending time in my fathers store and being very familiar with everything stocked there,
I thought it was a chicken! But, of course, it was a doll! One year Margarets family gave
me a book. They knew how much I loved books. I can feel now how my heart and eyes
lit up.

When I was seven, Margaret moved on, and I spent Christmas Eves alone. One year a
neighbor heard that I was alone and came to my door and insisted I come over to their
house. I remember their sweet kindness, but, of course, as kind as they were, and also
because they were so kind, I felt apart. This sense of being on the outside haunted me
most of my life.