Hallmark Houses Revisted

I wrote a post back in December entitled, "Hallmark Houses." I reminisced on my childhood and how I'd been fond of Hallmark's miniature Christmas houses. I’d always loved those houses because I was attracted by the soft light escaping through the windows. I'd get right up next to them and try to peak through the windows. Of course I could never see in but I'd imagine that only the most ideal familial situations, the kind framed with laughter, kindness, and love, could conjure the warm, attractive light. I felt like my childhood home had been a proverbial Hallmark house. In my post I went on to say that since my parents' divorce I’d felt like I’d forever be a Hallmark house outsider. I could admire the light from other houses, but each year I felt I got further away from what I used to have. I think that is how I left the post but the story is not finished.

A couple of years after my parents divorced, I had a college professor that became a friend and mentor. He was an intelligent and kind man. When I’d visit his office with a question, he’d make me feel like he had nothing better to do than to talk with me. I knew he was a busy man, so it made it all the more remarkable that he would act this way. Jeff became acquainted with this professor when we were engaged and quickly became friends with him too. Even when I left college, I decided to keep in touch with him because I wanted to keep him as a friend and he responded by continuing to treat Jeff and me with respect and kindness. He is a happy and optimistic man and filled with great wisdom. Though he wasn’t my father, he gave me an example of what an honorable and kind man could be. That made all the difference when I looked to the future. When I found myself being worried about whether I’d get divorced, I looked at this professor and his beautiful marriage and it gave me hope.

After I wrote the Hallmark post and when we were in Utah after Christmas, I had the opportunity to visit this professor’s home and meet his wife for the first time. The visit to his home was sandwiched between a visits to see both my mom at the rest home and my dad, who looked like a corpse on oxygen. Needless to say it wasn’t the best day so I looked forward to seeing my friend and meeting his wife. We pulled up to their home and were little surprised because it wasn’t in the nicest area and was a modest, older home. I guess we were surprised because this friend is a gifted professor and surely makes an above average salary. We knocked and my friend showed us in. The kids were excited right off because there was a beautiful golden retriever with soft brown eyes to greet them. The house was so clean and still beautifully decorated with Christmas lights and tasteful knick knacks. The front room had light carpet and nice furniture so the dog was not allowed in. So we went downstairs so the kids could continue to enjoy the dog. My old professor’s wife came down and she talked with us as if she’d known us forever. She was every bit as kind and gracious as her husband had always been. She thought the kids might be hungry and so she went upstairs and spent at least twenty minutes making them an appetizer tray with carrots, corn, cheese, and crackers. I think they only ate the crackers but I was so touched by the level of care she took to make all of us feel at home. As we sat and talked with these two, I looked and noticed there were quite a few Hallmark houses under the Christmas tree. The wife saw me notice them and said something about how the lights had all burned out because they’d been running them for weeks. I smiled because I thought how they didn’t need the lights in those miniature houses. Their home and the reception I received there made me feel as if I was inside the most warm and beautiful Hallmark house imaginable. I later began to understand that through my professor’s kindness and friendship, I had been inside a Hallmark house all along. Turns out I’m not quite the outcast I’d thought I was.