It was 1939, and the Great Depression had made all our lives much harder. But we didn’t know how poor we were until our father sat my brother and me down on the couch in our living room to have a talk.

I will always remember the sad look in Father’s eyes as he stared down at his hands, rubbing them back and forth, while he searched for the words to tell us that our family wasn’t going to be celebrating Christmas this year.

A month later, on Christmas Eve, I lay awake in bed late into the night, trying to talk myself out of sneaking into our living room to see if Santa had come. I gathered my courage, then tiptoed down the hallway, hoping I would see the bright sparkling lights of our Christmas tree standing proudly in the corner of our living room, like it did every year.

Instead, I was greeted by my seventeen-year-old brother, Frank, who slept on our living room couch. “Hey, little one, what are you doing up?” he whispered.

I started to cry. “There’s no Christmas tree.”

There would be no presents, no singing, no Christmas dinner. It felt like we were the saddest family in the world. My disappointment overwhelmed me. I looked forward to Christmas each year. It wasn’t only the presents. It was that special feeling I got from seeing my family happy. We hadn’t been happy in such a long time.

On Christmas morning, the sun shone into our chilly bedroom, waking me up. “Maybe Santa came! Maybe he came!” I suddenly insisted. My eyes searched the living room, but there was no Christmas tree. I broke into uncontrollable tears.

I ran to Father in tears and threw my arms around him. “ We aren’t going to have Christmas this year.”

“Now, now, now, calm down. Go on in and see your mother. She will comfort you.” Dad slowly pushed the bedroom door open, leading me into the room.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed something different in the bedroom.

With my question answered, everything dawned on me.

A boy called Jimmy always arrived home hungry every day and his parents couldn’t figure out why. When Jimmy wouldn’t share what was going on, his parents decided to visit the principal (校长), hoping he could offer the answer.

After talking with Jimmy’s classmates, the principal and his parents heard a story. Although Jimmy never talked about it, his classmates told them that he always came to school without food. The principal and his parents were shocked. No wonder Jimmy was always so hungry after school! Was there something happening on the way to school?

To make the situation clear, the principal naked Jimmy’s teacher, Mr. Green, to talk to Jimmy in private. During the conversation with the teacher. Jimmy refused to say anything about the situation, leaving everyone helpless. This left the principal with no evidence to take any action regarding the missing lunch of Jimmy.

Jimmy’s parents were becoming increasingly concerned as their child continued to come home from school without saying a word. Despite their meeting in the school, they thought that they had no other ways to discover the reason why Jimmy was always so hungry. The lack of communication with their child only added to their helplessness. They knew they needed to take action, but they had no idea where to start.

Determined to get to the bottom of the problem. Jimmy’s father derided to take action again. The next day. Jimmy’s father went to school and asked to speak with Jimmy’s teacher, Mr. Green.

When Jimmy’s father reached the school, Mr. Green spoke with him and patiently answered all of his questions. However, despite a deep conversation between them, no conclusion could be reached, which still questioned Jimmy’s parents.

One day, by accident, Jimmy’s father found a thank-you letter from Jimmy’s room.

Jimmy’s parents were touched by his act of kindness.

Every previous year on Thanksgiving Day I’d woken up early, filled with excitement, unable to wait for the turkey, pumpkin pie with pecans, and my grandma’s famous cheesecake. But I would never forget the lesson that my mother taught me when I was 14 years old. That Thanksgiving, I couldn’t find the magic anymore. For some reason the holiday seemed fake (假的). I suddenly felt like Thanksgiving was a big lie. I saw no reason to celebrate.

As my aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandma started to arrive carrying plates of food, baskets of bread, and pitchers of egg nog, I grew more and more angry and frustrated. None of them were really thankful, I realized. The whole thing was a lie!

When my mom called for everyone to take their seats for dinner, I left. I ran into the guest room where no one would look, crying. I was defiant (反抗的) because I wanted to be an honest person but 1 was realizing that Thanksgiving was fake. It didn’t feel right to join in the tradition---say something beautiful one by one around the table.

My mom, worried that 1 was absent from the table, came to see what was wrong, “No one is really thankful!” I sobbed, “They just pretend for one day because that’s what you’re supposed to do!"

My mom sat down next to me and listened wisely. Then she nodded. “You’re right,” she told me, “it’s fake until you find the truth for yourself.” She said Thanksgiving was a time to reflect because we don’t always get a chance to see loved ones and eat a good meal. Then she left. I didn’t listen to her. I was convinced that I could never find joy celebrating again.

But I was also starving and I had to eat something.

At her words, I realized they wanted me to be a part of the tradition.