I have just one word for this book, and that is WOW! I have to admit I was a bit skeptical not knowing anything about the author and/or the book, plus being a newly published book with not many reviews that I saw but it caught my attention from the first page to the last. Adriane, you definitely picked the right book for the right time of year, GREAT PICK!!!
So with that said.....
The Christmas Sweater, began about a young boy, Eddie, who's family wasn't rich or poor that just enjoyed life until his father tragically died of Cancer and it seemed to change his world forever. His Mom having to sell the house, the car and business, leaving her with working two jobs around Eddie's schedule just trying to make things "normal" again but also trying to put food on the table. She was too proud of a woman to take any help, and even though her parents were always there she was determined to do it on her own, which in it's own way made Eddie resent her because of that she couldn't always give her what he thought he needed.
To Eddie, this Christmas was one he was never going to forget, because he was determined this year he was going to get the Huffy Bike that he had been hinting about all year, and he was sure his mother had been saving for. So he was being the best he could be, looked everywhere just like Grandpa had taught him to only to find a letter telling him that he shouldn't be looking, Gosh, she knew his every trick! Until Christmas was finally here, and he looked around the tree thinking, Mom is hiding his very special gift and saving it for last. Until, with the brightest eyes, his Mother gives him his last gift and he is thinking it's a picture or a note saying where the bike was, only to be disappointed by the sweater his mother took so much time and effort making. To his Mother, the sweater was beautiful and because it was handmade she knew that Eddie would love it and was hoping that since the bike was out of her budget that he would understand. Unfortunately, that's not what happened and for the first time, he not only was disappointed by his mother's gift but now he was going to act like a spoiled child not getting the perfect gift in his eyes. This sweater represented so many things, and although we understood what it meant he could only see it as the bike that he was cheated. Sadly, in my eyes it seems that is what Christmas has turned into, not spending time with our family and friends, appreciating what we have but wondering what we were going to get under the tree.
As cold as Eddie was, not only to his mother but then his grandparents when the bike didn't appear and the hurt and anger his mother felt as she saw the sweater on the floor in a ball, he still didn't understand the way he was acting or what he had could be taken away so quickly. And by acting like a spoiled child, him and his mother decided to go home that night, a snowy night and his mother who was much to tired to be driving, and because of the bike he thought he was owed and the pain in his mother's heart, they drove their last drive. A drive that could of been avoided if only Eddie would of realized the love and dedication of not only his Mother, but his Grandparents who only wanted them to stay.....
Now he is without a Mother or Father and his Grandparents are trying to do the best they can, but as angry as he is, Eddie doesn't want to be saved and the sweater is the only thing he has left of his Mother and to him it's what is the root of his sadness, where really if he wouldn't acted so bitter he could of seen that the sweater was everything to his Mother and they might have stayed the night, only to wake up fresh and renewed. But as with everything in life, would of, should of, could of we can't take back the past but Eddie needed to get on with his life and not blame everyone else. His Grandfather tried, his Grandmother cried and he made a new friend who he thought had it all because they were rich, but truly Taylor was just as sad with his parents never really being there for him. But of course all Eddie saw was that he had anything and everything he wanted. Then he met Russell, who truly understood him and tried to help him understand that everyone goes through life with hardships and he had no one to blame for what happened, it just happened as that was life was about. Although, of course Eddie didn't want to hear what Russell was saying but thought he was his friend, someone who truly understood him.
Then finally Eddie could take no more, his Grandparents wouldn't let him live with Taylor, and he couldn't be there anymore. So he packed his bag, found the bike he was suppose to get until he acted like a spoiled child not getting what he wanted and started for somewhere else other than where he was. But something happened, he couldn't find Russell at his house and he was so angry that he didn't see the hole that was in the road and he fell, fell so hard that it knocked him out. When he awoke, he found his bike crumpled up and Russell who was guiding him through the storm that was approaching, approaching so fast that he kept looking back even as Russell was trying to talk him through the dark place he had gotten himself in too. This is where he finally realized what he had done, how he had acted and what the sweater really represented. Along with what he had lost, his father and now his mother, but also his grandparents who thought he was almost a lost cause.
Now it was time, time for him to forgive and ask to be forgiven which he was and when he awoke again his mother was standing over him. He looked into his mother's eyes, only to be ask for forgiveness and explain that the sweater was the best gift ever and although he wanted the bike, he finally understood the sweater was truly what he needed. It was all a dream, a dream that only God could have let him see and be so real, and he truly found the meaning of Christmas, what family meant to him and how horrible he acted all for a bike.
So this Christmas, I am going to appreciate my family and realize how special they are to me. Especially as this year has been so hard, with my surgeries and my step-father's Leukemia progressing, along with the everyday hardships we go through. I can honestly say that this has been one of the worst years of my life, but I can also say that as Eddie did, I realized that the bad comes with the good and that is what teaches us to appreciate and only become stronger. So this holiday season, hug your children a little harder and take the moment to make that phone call or trip and realize our lives are in the hands of God and we need to appreciate each day that he gives us to wear the "sweater".
Merry Christmas!!!
Until our next pick........
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