“Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas. (Coolidge, Calvin)” Harmony woke up as if it were any normal day. She looked at her calendar next to her bed and realized it was Christmas Eve. When she had first moved in with the Parker's' she used to bounce off the walls. They had adopted her about exactly 1 year ago after she had been in several foster homes. When they adopted her she couldn't contain her excitement, she knew deep down in her heart that they were the family she had been waiting for years.
When she was a day old she had been dropped off at the orphanage. It had been the day after Christmas. When the woman who ran the orphanage had found her she had decided to name the nameless baby, Harmony. The reason why was because while she lay in her bassinet on the steps, she didn't make a sound. Even though earlier it had been snowing and it was pitch black. Harmony seemed to have a glowing aura around her that gave her a piece of mind.
When she was about two months old she was adopted by a nice couple. The couple had had three other adopted children. A week before she turned a year old, which happened to be Christmas, the couple died brutally in a car crash. She doesn't remember them, but she knew that while she lived with them that they tried their best to give her a loving, caring atmosphere. So she ended up spending her first Christmas and birthday in the orphanage. Later on she would come to believe of it as an omen for birthdays and Christmases to come.
Six months after that horrific incident she was adopted by another couple. Although, she was young she knew that this couple was bad news. They had a total of five adopted children. Once she got older, and went through more foster homes, she began to understand that they only became foster parents to collect money. She lived with them for four years. That happened to be the worst four years of her life.
She knew that they were both shady people, who always seemed to have bloodshot eyes. For the next couple of years, she thought that the couple would at least try to make an effort during the holiday season, but she knew that she was only being hopeful. She tried her best to not to let that get her down. At the beginning of December of that fourth year, both of the adopted parents were arrested for dealing drugs. She was then put back into foster care. Once again she got to spend another birthday in foster care.
As she got older she went through another four foster homes. She always seemed to be moving through the foster care during Christmas. At first she thought it was just a coincidence, but the time she was 12 she stopped believing in the holiday miracles. She felt as though that all hope had been lost. She felt as though she was cursed. At school she would hear from kids all around about the traditions, family, and the love that was shared throughout the holidays. She always felt jealous because she thought she was missing out on the gifts that she could never have. She wished that life had been different; she didn’t know what she’d done wrong to deserve that kind of life.
When she turned 15 she had once again been put back into foster care. Within a week a couple had begun to show interest in her. She didn’t want to get her hopes up, so she decided to not show to how much she cared. The Parkers instantly took a liking to her and knew she would be a good match for their family. They would later tell her that they saw the potential in her, and the harmonious glow that surrounded her. They adopted her that September and all she could think about was what would happen in the next couple of months before Christmas.
It came to her in surprise when she spent her first Christmas with them. They included her in all of their family traditions with welcoming, loving arms. She started to get this feeling that these emotions she was feeling wouldn’t be the last. When she woke up on Christmas day, she braced herself for the day ahead. She walked down the stairs and she looked around to see the family waiting for her.
As soon as she sat down she was wished a happy birthday and merry Christmas. Her adopted-mother brought out a birthday cake. Once they were done singing they let her open her gifts first. She opened it to see a brand new iPod. She was shaken with happiness. At that moment she began to cry. She stood up and hugged her new parents and siblings. Harmony saw that each one of them showed happiness in their eyes. She realized at that moment what Christmas truly meant.
It didn’t matter if you had the most expensive gifts, if you didn’t have people around you who cared about you then it meant next to nothing. No matter how corny that sounded. She knew from that point on that she wasn’t cursed.
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