Carol's Christmas Request

By Mariliz Ischi

Mark is devastated that his longtime girlfriend has spurned his marriage proposal. Upon graduating from college, she moves to California for a job opportunity, and he is left behind in Missouri. Unable to get a job, he joins the US Marine Corps. During deployment in Iraq, he is injured and returns to St. Louis, Missouri, where he is assigned to recruit future Marines. As the new guy, he is tasked to play Santa Claus at the local orphanage. During this activity he is captivated by a young girl who is saddened by being separated from her mother. This chance encounter will alter the course of his life forever.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: May 3, 2021
• ISBN: 9781098077792

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Carol's Christmas Request

Mariliz Ischi

Copyright © 2021 by Mariliz Ischi

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

The Last Semester of College

Graduation Day Letdown

Jobs Are Hard to Come By

The Enlistment Option

Farewell Friends

From Parris Island to Combat

Back to Missouri

Christmas Duty

A Lonely Christmas

Santa Visits the Hospital

Were His Eyes Betraying Him

Together Forever

Introduction

In writing this book, I envisioned a small lonely child standing by a mall Santa with tears in her eyes. Beside him was a box of unwrapped toys from which he would casually retrieve a gift and hand it to each child who sat on his knee. The Toys for Tots theme came to mind as I myself had spent a number of years in the Marine Corps, and we were encouraged to donate. My entry always brought a second glance, since I liked to fish, I thought that there was always some child out there who would like to have his own fishing pole. Most others put in teddy bears or other gifts geared to small children. I knew that there were older children who also received gifts from this charity.

I myself had spent almost a year in an orphanage, and I knew the loneliness of the children who spent months and even years there. This, to me, was a major turning point in my life, had I not endured this experience, there is no knowing where my life would have ended. The people who touched my life in this place gave encouragement, which I had never received at home; it was those persons who encouraged me to go to college. I went to college in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and walking to the river, watching the tugboats pushing barges down river was a common pastime. Young couples would sit on the large rocks near the riverbank, and after dark, it was in the solitude and quietness of this place where they would neck.

There’s a little bit of me in both Mark and Lisa. I used various life experiences in the writing of this piece and hope that it enriches all who take the time to read it.

1

The Last Semester of College

It’s late winter in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Mark and Lisa walk hand in hand toward the Mississippi River, huddled up against the crisp evening air. They enter the river’s edge through an opening in the flood wall; the vestiges of winter begin ebbing into spring as is evidenced by the rising waters. The river is up as the melting snow has followed smaller feeder streams from the north into it. The usual commerce of barges continue despite the rise hoping to deliver their freight of coal to the southern regions of the country. A tugboat guiding a barge in the distance shines its light back and forth along the darkening banks of the river, ever vigilant against hazards which may occur on the surface of the ever-increasing water speed caused by the push of the swelling depths. Large tree branches, or other debris may be in the path of the vessel as it makes its way downstream anyone could be a hazard to the boat or its cargo.

As they sit on the riprap rocks along the edge, they snuggle close against the winter chill that comes with the sunset which is slowly blocked by the high flood wall. They are both seniors at the local state university, Southeast Missouri State University. Lisa is majoring in computer processing, and Mark is majoring in law enforcement. They are getting ready for graduation in a couple of months and are discussing their future plans; it is Mark’s hope that Lisa will want to include him in her future. A discussion on this matter is on his mind as he mulls over in his mind the way in which he can interject it into their conversation.

They met in their first year when they were both taking anthropology. They agreed at the time that the need for this class in their respective futures was not essential, but nevertheless it was required for graduation. As the professor droned on about some small insignificant foreign tribe deep in South America, they passed notes and whispered, as is common in the back of a class that large.

Lisa had chosen her career path as she was mesmerized by the ever-increasing jobs in the computer industry in particular computer graphics and design. Mark, on the opposite side of the coin, contemplated the employment opportunities which did not involve computerization. His thought was on the job which would most likely not be taken over by computers. Mechanization was taking over so many jobs once held by skilled humans. Adding to the decision, noting that he had been told on numerous occasions by his father that You’ll end up in prison some day! How ironic would that be should he actually fulfill this prophesy, although not in the way his father meant.

He pulls her closer as he begins his conversation on the matter. Lisa, we’ve been together for over three years and we’ve spent so much time together that it’s like we were meant for each other. The brevity that he garnered was evident in his choice of words, and the way he gazed into her eyes. Her response to the matter was not what he anticipated hearing.

She nuzzled her head against his arm, and shifted her body closer to him. I think so too, she replied. Our future will be wonderful with children and a small house of our own, but at this time we need to get our lives organized before we do anything permanent.

We are both soon-to-be college graduates, and the world is waiting at our doorstep with employment opportunities, he began. Our diplomas open doors that would otherwise be closed to those with less education.

But let’s be practical, Mark, without a job, there can be no home, children, or stability, she remarked. We can’t exist on love alone. Love doesn’t pay bills or supply food for the table. We need to be set in our careers and be financially sound before we can get married and bring children into the world.

Always the practical one, he interjected. That will come in time, but our love is now, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. He pulled her close and kissed her. In the distance they can hear the sound of another barge as it pushes its load down the river to a southern destination. The once-gently flowing river is soon-to-be disturbed by a wake as the barge passes. They enjoy the closeness they share as the barge continues downstream with its load of coal. The ripples of the wake slap against the riverbank making mist as it is broken up by the riprap rocks which are there to serve that purpose. Like the ripples on the edge of this river, there will be rough times, but they will pass in time. With each other to act as the rocks, we will be able to survive whatever comes our way to disturb our serenity.

I love you, Mark, but I’m not ready for commitment until I am assured of my own stability. I can’t jump in the water without knowing what lies on the surface beneath, she adds. We still have a few months until graduation and I’m looking for a job in my field. I have some applications in my room that I want to fill out and send in. She released herself from his grasp and stood to leave. The snow is beginning to fall, and I need to get back to my room and get some sleep for the computer design test tomorrow. Standing facing the river, they observed the rising water; the flood wall gates will soon close should the pending weather front to the north come to fruition rising the water’s edge closer to the town. By next weekend they will not be open, neither will they again until the threat of flooding discontinues. Together they walked hand-in-hand toward the college campus.

After he dropped her off at her Gamma Sigma Sigma sorority house, he slowly walked back to his off-campus apartment a mile away. He had time to think and make plans for the next time that they would be together when he could propose the question of marriage once again. A cold rain began to fall as he trudged back home, he would study for his midterm psychology exam for a while, then he’d go to bed.

Saturday morning, Mark woke to a warming, but windy day. He was going to celebrate his birthday with Lisa. He had bought corned beef and cabbage as an early St. Patrick’s Day meal. He had a Crock-Pot that he had gotten from the thrift store the previous summer when he moved from the dormitories to a small apartment in town. The school was about to close the dorms for the summer, and he had to stay to do his practicum. Not having anywhere to stay in the area, he had rented an apartment with two friends at the end of the spring semester. It was a two-bedroom apartment, and his two friends were brothers, Pookie, and Moochie, so they elected to share the larger of the two rooms, and he got the small corner room. The rent was two hundred dollars a month, which he paid seventy-five dollars, the two brothers covered the rest. The utilities were included in the rent; the only other expenses were for their food.

This arrangement worked out fairly well for the first couple of months, but the brothers paid less than their share for the food. When something was used up, they sent him to the store to get it. Another issue was their cigarette smoking. As their original agreement, they were to smoke outdoors, not in the apartment. Mark got asthma problems when the smoke filled the air. He should have confronted them the first time that they violated this agreement, but he gave in because there was a storm outside, and the brothers didn’t want to be out in the weather to have their cigarette. After that, the rule was out the window; every time that they were home, they lit up inside. Eventually, it was Mark who went outside when they smoked.

One afternoon when he was outside escaping the smoke-filled apartment, he walked into the yard and saw a neighbor man on his porch. He was elderly, probably seventy years old. He was seated at a small table sipping on a cold beer. That’s what I need, he thought. Mark walked over to make conversation with the old fellow. Good afternoon, he began. Nice day for a cold one, huh!

Any day is a nice day for a cold one, he remarked.

My roommates don’t drink, he added. It’s against their religion so they say. They can’t drink, but they sure don’t have a problem with smoking.

I don’t have a problem with smoking or drinking, the older man responded. The only problem with either one is the price. Not just the money, but how they affect my health, he continued. The doctor told me that these things would kill me if I don’t quit smoking them, but I’m going to die from something, so it may as well be something that I enjoy! With those words, he shook another Pall Mall out of its red pack, struck a match on the wooden leg of his chair, and lit up.

Mark couldn’t disagree with him on the matter; now he was back to breathing in smoke. Do you want a beer? the man asked. It’s Schlitz, not the best beer, but at least I can afford it on my social security.

Mark thought about it for a minute before he caught the smoke from the cigarette on the wind in his face. Maybe some other day, he replied. I’m getting ready to go get some groceries for the weekend. My roommates are leaving for the weekend, and I’m going to buy a couple of TV dinners for my supper. He turned to go and looked back at the man. Maybe I’ll stop over later this evening after my roommates leave. At that, he turned toward the apartment building and headed back to his room.

He still had the money in his wallet for the rent along with the rest of his paycheck from his summer job on the college campus. When he got to his room, he closed the door, got out a box of poker chips, and hid two hundred dollars in the box underneath the tray. He hadn’t played poker in months, so the box sat in his closet unnoticed. He usually paid the rent up front, and the brothers would repay him when they cashed their checks. He didn’t worry about them paying him back, as they always had the money within a couple of days. He still had fifty dollars in his pocket as he went to the grocery store.

As he told the neighbor man, he purchased two TV dinners, a loaf of bread, and a quart of milk for his Life cereal that was almost gone. As he pushed his cart up the aisle, he saw a display of beer. Busch is cheap, he considered, the brothers wouldn’t be around to harass him about drinking so he picked up a six-pack Why not enjoy himself!

By the time that he got back to the apartment, the brothers had left for the weekend. They had friends over before they left, so he took longer than usual doing his shopping. He didn’t care for the friends because they usually smelled like they were smoking marijuana, and he suspected that they were influencing the brothers. He saw the landlord’s car at the building across the road, so he went to his poker chip box to get his rent money. He opened the lid, took out the tray, and reached for the money which was no longer there. Now what would he do? He wanted to pay the rent, but all he had was $150 in the bank which was short by $50. The rent wasn’t due for another three days, so he put the poker chip box back in his closet and opened a beer.

Either his roommates, or their guests must have known where he hid the money and took it. His ire was up over this breach of trust, and Mark was confounded as to what to do.

Cold beer in hand, he decided to go talk to the old man. He needed somebody to talk to just to let off some steam. He strode across the grass to visit the neighbor who was still on his porch. He walked over and raised his beer as if to offer a toast. I thought that I’d come sit for a while, he began. I’m home alone and wanted somebody to talk to.

Come up and have a seat, The elderly men offered motioning to a plastic lawn chair next to his. I see you brought your own beer.

Mark climbed the two steps and took a seat on the chair. I was going to cook my dinner and have my beer in front of the TV after paying the rent, but when I went to get the rent money from my room, it was gone. He knew that his problem wasn’t anybody else’s business, and the old man probably didn’t care, but he had to get it off of his chest. I don’t know what to do now, he continued. "I