The Enzian Art House in Florida was showing movies in the park. One evening, a few weeks before Christmas, they showed The Christmas Storyand had a raffle  with a girl's bike as the prize. It was attractive with color1ed streamers , flowers' butterflies, a fascinating bell, all designed to delight a five-year-old girl. But I, who was fifty, won it! This led to a bit of a puzzle as 1 didn't have kids or grandchildren to give it to. I wanted the bike to go to someone who didn't have the opportunity to own such a wonderful thing. I contacted the shelter (where I occasionally volunteered in the kitchen) and while there was a big need for a sweet bike, there was also the potential for it to create conflict. I sought else where until I found out about a couple in our church who had been going through hard times in their marriage because of drugs and alcohol. They walked to our church (they didn't have a car) from a parking lot a mile away and they had a sweet little five-year-old daughter. On Christmas Eve I went to their parking lot. They had already left on foot to go to the candle lighting service. Their landlord was on the parking lot and when he heard that 1 wanted to leave the bike anonymously   he offered to open up their trailer  .There I saw a lone tree, so I put the bike behind it. It was a great moment for me and, I hope, a little bit of Christmas magic for the family and that little girl. What made the couple's marriage hard?
Drugs and alcohol. Their unemployment. Having many children to raise. Their girl's serious disease.