The Wreath: Part 2

Lucy ducked her head against the cold wind as she trudged across campus to her dorm. On the one hand, she was glad that classes were done for her first semester of college. On the other hand, that meant Christmas break and a lot of time alone.

The few classmates she had been hanging out with, she hesitated to call them friends quite yet, were all going home for the holidays. Neither she nor her mom had the money for her to fly across the country, so she stayed on campus and worked. But now that her janitorial job was done for the day, she had little else to do. It was Sunday evening, and there was nothing of interest happening in a small college town in the second week of Advent.

That thought, though, reminded her of the cardboard box back in her dorm, stuffed under her bed amongst other boxes. The wreath, from her childhood, was awaiting her. Her mother had given it to her as they were loading the car for the long drive, and she hadn’t had time to protest. Now, the thought of the wreath gave her a little joy.

She hurried a little faster across the snow-covered lawns, heading towards the warm glow of her dorm. She barged through the front door, feeling the warm embrace of air. As she removed her hat and started for the stairs, she saw another classmate sitting in a chair in their common room.

She stopped, sensing something off. She hesitated, but then walked over to the woman. “Excuse me.”

“Huh?” the other woman looked up, confused that someone was speaking to her.

“Everything alright?” Lucy asked.

She dismissively waved a hand in the air. “Yeah. Just bored. Maybe a little lonely. I ain’t got much to do.”

Lucy had an idea. She only stopped for a moment before speaking. “Why don’t you come and light my wreath with me?”

The other woman raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“I always light this wreath for Advent and my mom sent it along. Better than sitting here by yourself, right?”

She shrugged. “Why not?”

They walked up the stairs to Lucy’s room, and introduced themselves. The other woman was named Cara, was also a freshman, and like Lucy couldn’t afford to return home for Christmas.

As Cara settled into a bean bag, Lucy dug out the wreath box. It was scuffed and worn, with pieces of old tape hanging from it. She carefully lifted the wreath out and set it on her desk. She inserted the four candles and then realized that she didn’t have anything to light it with.

“Do you have a lighter?” Lucy asked.

“I’ve got matches!” Cara ran out of the room and returned a few minutes later. As she handed over a large box of matches, she explained “I love scented candles.”

Lucy lit two candles and then turned off the room light. The glow of the candles lit the small dorm room.

“As we light this second candle of Advent, let us prepare to welcome you in, Jesus. Let us be filled with your peace and help share that peace with others around us. Amen.”

They sat in silence for a while before Cara spoke. “That’s pretty cool.”

Lucy nodded. “Hey, you said you liked cooking, right?”

“Yeah, I love cooking!” Cara said. “I want to be a chef one day. Or maybe just own a restaurant.”

“Let me show this video where they make this crazy omelet.”

That evening was the beginning of a life-long friendship for both of them.