The Christmas of the Cardboard Box

If you would have told me that my life would change because of a cardboard box, I would have definitely scoffed and rolled my eyes.  I would have chocked it up to the human propensity for melodrama, or at least the Western need for it.  And if this hypothetical situation had actually taken place, what with you telling me this and with me making fun of it, the next part would have been that it really did happen.

That my life really did change because of a cardboard box.  Only no one prophesied it, and I never had the chance to scoff at said prophesy, it just happened.  It was Christmas Eve, and I opened my front door, and there was a cardboard box.  I wasn’t expecting anything from anyone, and it was nighttime besides, so the likelihood of deliveries being made that late in the day, and on the day before Christmas, was pretty slim indeed.

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So when I looked down and saw it, I had this ludicrous thought that Santa had come.  Of course I don’t believe in Santa, because I’m an adult, and because the entire concept is just plain weird, but in the randomness of the moment this is what my brain produced as a plausible explanation.  Quickly, I shook the thought out of my head and swore to never tell a soul.  How embarrassing.  It didn’t take long for the daydream to fade away completely when the box started moving.  And crying.  I say again, the cardboard box even started crying.  I looked around quickly.  Was anyone nearby?  Was anyone running down the street?

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Was anyone hiding on the side of the porch trying to film my stupid facial reactions?  The coast seemed to be clear, and it was freezing cold, so I didn’t want to leave whatever was in the box exposed any longer.  I took it right inside, because if it was only a tape recorder wrapped in a towel I wasn’t going to give whomever the satisfaction of recording my grimace.

I set the package on the table, and took a couple deep breaths before getting up the nerve to open it.  Sure enough, it was a baby.  And the letter I found, warm to the touch by the heat from his small body, said that he was mine.  My son.  Just like that, my life changed because of a cardboard box… Best. Christmas. Ever.