I figured that you guys would appreciate this. This is true and occured only a few hours ago.

My mothers side of the family held our annual Christmas Dinner this Christmas Eve at our local church. We have been holding this dinner at the same church for as long as I can remember. Our family has changed as people have passed on and new ones are born. At one time, it was not unusual for on average 75 people to attend. As the cousins married, their families would draw them in different directions on Christmas Eve. So, our attendance has gradually dropped. This year about 45 showed up.

As the potluck dinner buffet was being set up, the family mingled, caught up on what was happening, and discussed the new year. I was casually snapping photos for fun and trying out Gary Fongs Photojournalist Flash Diffuser. It was during this time that our visitor walked in. My cousin Les was the first to notice him. She pointed him out to me right away, asking "Who is that?". I replied that I had no idea , he must have been one of the new cousins or a friend of the family. He walked in nanchalantly and even played with the rest of the little kids briefly. I watched him walk up to my Aunt Betty and say something to her. They disappeared into the kitchen and I lost sight of him. More pressing matters took my attention anyway as the blessing was said and the line formed for the food.

As we seated to eat, Les asked me if I had heard about our visitor. She told me that he had walked in off the street by himself. He came in and when Betty noticed him, he said that he was hungry. Not being someone to turn away a hungry child Betty took him to the kitchen and gave him a chicken leg. It was then that she realized that he was not a member of the family and asked someone to walk him home, chicken leg in hand. It was not far but it was still disturbing that this child of no more than 4 was out by himself on Christmas Eve. When the chaparone returned she said that the mother was at home with a small baby and it appeared that the mother was mute. She tried to tell the mother where he was found and that we had given him a chicken leg. The mother nodded and all was well....

Les made a joke that she bet he would be back. My family is notorious for good food and many a stray (friend) has been invited to attend our meals only to become an adopted part of the family when they keep coming back every year.

30 minutes into the meal, the door slowly opened and in walked the visitor. He made his way to the buffet and grabbed a plate. Betty, knowing that he was hungry, offered to help with with the plate. As part of the deal she asked him what his name was. A small voice replied "Nobody". Betty said "Nobody?, don't you have a name?". He replied "Yes, but I am not allowed to talk to strangers". "Let me get this straight, you can't talk to strangers, but you can come eat with them?" Betty asked him jokingly. She continued loading up the plate for him anyway. She handed him the loaded plate and he started towards the door. After making it 2 steps out the door, he turned and came back in. He hesitated for a moment and made his way to an empty chair beside Uncle Ray. I heard him mumble something about, "I will eat here". As he seated himself, he looked up at Ray and asked him if he wanted anything off of his plate. At this point I was sitting in amazement.

I grabbed my camera and quietly walked around the tables to get a shot of our visitor. This is a cute kid. His clothes were a bit rugged, but my cousins actually looked worse as they had been out front playing football for the last hour. I snapped a pic and his head whipped around "why is he taking my picture?" he asked my Aunt. While I had his attention, I snapped a second one. Not wanting to upset him, I went on and took other pictures of the rest of the family.

After he finished eating, he went to the desert table and someone helped him with a piece of cake. This was gone in less than a minute. Betty asked him if he would like a plate for later. He nodded yes, and she fixed up 2 large covered plates, she figured that maybe the mother would be hungry as well. At about this time, the family started passing out gifts. Our visitor watched quietly but made no motion towards the toys being passed around. My grandfather started moving quickly around the room so I started to follow him to figure out what he was up to. I realized that he was trying to find a spare envelope that he had brought with him. My grandfather has always brought envelopes with small bills in them to give to the kids. Usually it is $5 for the little ones, and maybe $10 or so for the older kids. He ran off to fill an envelope and I watched as "Nobody" was preparing to leave. I never saw my grandfather actually give him the envelope, but I know that he did. My grandfather is a good man.

After he left, we all tried to figure out what was going on. Betty actually remembered him from a Sunday Morning several months ago. The church congregation was seated for service when in walked "Nobody". He strolled right up to the altar and said "Hi Preacher, how are you". This kid must have no fear.

After the dinner, I had time to reflect on what had happened. My family has taken in many a wayward soul. Some have lived in our homes as part of our family. An Aunt on my dads side of the family even commented on the parables from the bible about taking strangers into your homes. She thought it was very interesting that "Nobody" had came to visit our family on Christmas Eve.

I plan to see if I can find out more about "Nobody" as he is a neighbor. Who knows we might even invite him to the next family dinner.

I hope that you all have had a great Christmas and remember what this season is all about.

Doc

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