Christmas Of Love

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At the end of the 1990s, Latvia was going through many changes especially economically. My husband Martin was lucky to land a job as a lawyer for a retail company and became friends with the owner, Due to this economic boost we could spend some time in the US in both 1998 and 1999. We mostly traveled about the east coast and spent some time in my hometown NYC. However, things changed and the company Martin worked for went bankrupt and we found ourselves financially burdened, During the Christmas of 1999, we realized that we could have a merry little Christmas but it would have to come without presents, It was a time to remember the true meaning of Christmas and we put up a little tree. I made some simple snacks, we had some Christmas cheer, listened to Christmas music, lit a candle, and just enjoyed being together. Latvians have the tradition of opening their presents on Christmas Eve and if possible can do this at midnight when it comes to Christmas Day, Anyway that year about midnight Martin looks at me and says maybe Santa has already been here. Knowing our situation I looked at him and two things went through my mind either he has had one too many or perhaps I should start believing in Christmas miracles, So I went to the Christmas tree and looked under it and sure enough, there was a present, At first, I doubted what I saw and then two things went through my mind, One was that perhaps Martin had scraped together enough money to get me a present but then I knew that if he had he would have told me and together we would have decided what to do with the money. The second thought was why would Santa bring me a present and not Marin, So I took the present and returned to the table to sit down, Before I tell you what Santa brought I have to explain some things, Martin and I had a joke between us that if anyone was going to get food on them or other dirt it was going to be me I was clumsy that way, So he gave me the endearing nickname of Ruksis which in translation means piglet and even more endearing is Ruksitis. So through all the years we spent together he called me Ruksis and if ever he called me by my real name Rasma it sounded very strange, On one of our trips to the US he bought me a pair of very big, fluffy, and warm slippers with a pig face and snout, I wore those slippers for two very cold Latvian winters and the soles wore out and I kept them but put them aside. So back to our Christmas, I sat there with the package in my lap looking at the silly grin on Martin's face. So I opened the package and there were my pig slippers all fixed up with new soles. One of our neighbors was a lovely woman who lived with her son and his family. She made clothes for her family and made extra money by making things for her friends and neighbors, Martin had brought the slippers to her to fix up. It was a gesture of pure love and this became one of our best Christmases spent together.