It happened on Maple Street

By Kathryn Deladurnatey

Twas’ a time before Christmas and all through the wooden white house on Maple Street, not a creature was stirring not even a mouse.

Until…

“Boys, boys, grab your BB guns!” yelled Sandy, their father, from the doorway. 

In the blink of an eye four vibrant, vivacious, young little men tumbled through the front door.

Sandy looked into their eyes and said with a calm tone, “Wait here, behind the couch. Quiet now, that little creature will show up at any moment from behind the chimney.”

When Cheryl, Sandy’s wife heard this insane commotion, she set aside her quilt of many layers of squares and colors to pop her head into the well-furnished living room, full of cherished memories, from the pictures on the walls to the saddles in the corner. 

And to her shock, and joy! …

There were four small boys lined in a row behind the couch aiming with all their might. The youngest, Tyler, was grinning with excitement.

“Fire now,” cried Jesse, the third-born brother, as a small mouse poked its fat round head out from behind the bricks in the chimney. “Pop, Pop, Pop.” The four BB guns went ablaze.

“Hooray, we did it,” cried the team of mighty mice hunters.

Proudly, Sandy said, “Good job little men. You’ve got to be prepared for anything in life, learn to do things on your own, and take care of problems when they come up. Nothing like a lazy man.

“Just like your grandma used to say, ‘A lazy man isn’t afraid of work, he’ll sit right down next to it.’”

With a twinkle in his eye, Sandy grabbed his bow and arrow, and said, “And always be practicing and learning things, like shooting an arrow 40 yards, move aside fellas.”

Sandy perched just outside the front door on the porch and aimed his arrow right through the middle of the house out the back door and into the backyard. Whoosh, went the arrow, right through that old living room, swooping right by the kitchen table and past Cheryl’s famous turkey and stuffing. 

“BULLSEYE,” he cried, as the whole family erupted in cheers of joy.

Vroomm, rum, bum, pop, the old ranch truck started up outside. The cold of winter was in the air. It was just a week before Christmas and the family on Maple Street was ready to hit the road to check on their cattle. 

As they drove down the familiar roads, Sandy firmly said, “Everybody listen up. If something happens out in the pasture to your brother, stay with um don’t leave him ‘cause we might not find him.”

Speedy and Joseph, the two eldest brothers, found themselves on the edge of the brush looking for a couple of lost heifers, a task they had done many times when all of a sudden, Speedy noticed Joseph turn pale.

In a worried tone, Speedy asked, “What’s wrong, Joseph?”

Joseph blurted out, “I’ve been bitten by a rattlesnake.”

Speedy’s mind raced back to the words of his father: “Never leave your brother.”

That moment was a rush of commotion and adrenaline as Speedy acted fast.

Speedy thought. His brother needed help and there wasn’t much time. The only way would be to carry his brother to safety.

Speedy was 13-years-old and Joseph was 11. The task of carrying his younger brother was great, but Speedy rose to the occasion.

That’s when a miracle happened.

In the distance, a neighbor heard the boys in the brush, and came in an instant to their aid.

The entire crew, including the neighbors, drove to the Luling hospital as fast as they could. And before they knew it, Joseph had been life-flighted to a larger hospital. 

The little white wooden house on Maple Street was not quite itself this Christmas season.

But just in time, on Christmas Eve, Joseph was safely home. Saved by an older brother who heard his father’s instruction and a neighbor who saw a friend in need. 

This bustling family comes from a long line of daily heroes who see those around them and put their needs above their own. Sandy and Cheryl are examples of “Good will toward men,” as they feed hundreds of people monthly from a church in Luling, during hurricane disasters or around their very kitchen table. People of character are made from heroic examples. Sandy and Cheryl were both raised by men and women who did the right thing, no matter what, and put God first in everything. They were raised by parents whose families worked hard in fields and at any job set before them. 

And the truth is great people can be raised anywhere and in any place, whether on Maple Street or Pasture Road. It is the examples that are set in front of us that mold us.

I hope this story inspires you this season to be a friend to anyone you find in need.