Free Wanda E. Brunstetter by Twice Loved Page B

now?”
    “Sure.” Dan pointed to a small package wrapped in red paper. “It’s that one.”
    Amy handed the gift to her mother and leaned against Dan’s knee as Bev opened it. “This is wonderful!” Bev exclaimed, as she held up a framed picture of Amy sitting on the patchwork quilt Dan’s late wife had made. “How did you do this without me knowing?”
    “When you were busy with customers, I took Amy into my photography studio and snapped her picture,” Dan answered. “We bought the frame the day I took her Christmas shopping.”
    Bev kissed Amy’s cheek and was tempted to do the same to Dan, but she caught herself in time. “Thank you both. I appreciate the picture and will find the right place to hang it when we go home.”
    “Here’s my gift to you, Amy.” Dan placed a large box in front of the child and helped her undo the flaps. Inside was a quilt—the same quilt that used to hang in Twice Loved and he’d used as a background for Amy’s portrait.
    Amy lifted the colorful covering and buried her face in it. “I love it, Uncle Dan. Thank you.”
    “It’s a precious gift, Dan,” Bev said, “but don’t you think you should give the quilt to a family member?”
    Dan took Bev’s hand. “That’s what I have in mind, all right.”
    Bev’s heartbeat picked up speed. What exactly was he saying?
    Dan reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a flat green velvet box. He handed it to Bev with a smile.
    She lifted the lid and gasped at the lovely gold locket inside. “It’s beautiful. Thank you, Dan.”
    “Open the locket,” he prompted.
    She did—and soon discovered there was a picture of Amy on one side and a picture of Dan on the other.
    “I’m in love with you, Bev,” Dan said, as he leaned over and kissed her.
    Bev’s eyes filled with tears, and at first she could only nod in reply. When she finally found her voice, she whispered, “I love you, too.”
    Amy grinned from ear to ear then handed Dan a large gift wrapped in green paper. “Here, Uncle Dan. This is for you, from me and Mommy.”
    Dan tore open the wrapping and lifted a brown teddy bear from the box. It had new eyes, patched paws, a pretty blue ribbon around its neck, and a sign on the front of its stomach that read: I AM T WICE L OVED .
    He tipped his head in question, and Bev smiled in response. “It was Amy’s idea.”
    Dan gave Amy a hug then lifted Bev’s chin with his thumb. He kissed her once more and murmured, “I believe God brought the three of us together, and just like this bear and the quilt I gave Amy, we have been twice loved.”

Christmas 1945
    “This is the Christmas that a war-weary world has prayed for through long and awful years. With peace come joy and gladness. The gloom of the war years fades as once more we light the National Community Christmas Tree.”—President Harry S. Truman, National Tree Lighting Ceremony, December 24, 1945.
    The attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and subsequent entry into World War II made many Americans fearful that Christmas would not be joyfully celebrated again for a long time. But on December 24, 1941, with Winston Churchill, who was in town for the Arcadia Conference, by his side, President Roosevelt did go ahead and light the national Christmas tree on the lawn of the White House. Over 20,000 Americans attended the celebration.
    Then from 1942 through 1944, the national Christmas tree was erected on the South Lawn and decorated, but it was not lit due to both the need to conserve electricity and to black out Washington from any potential nighttime air raids.
    With the surrender of Germany in May and Japan in September of 1945, Americans once again had liberty to celebrate special holidays. But Christmas 1945 remained a sad time for those who had lost loved ones in the war and those waiting for word on the missing. Still there was renewed hope as troops were returning home and the war effort had pulled the country out of the Great Depression into a new