Christmas Spirit

This was to be the first Christmas without my father. My father celebrated Christmas real big. His gift to the family was to make a huge gourmet Christmas dinner. Each year my dad's dinner had its own theme or specialty dish that he had learned when stationed in various countries while serving in the army. His favorite dishes were from Asia, especially from Japan. He would buy the highest quality when it came to ingredients for the meal. He would save up all year to make this one day very special for the family. He might not have been a certified gourmet chef, but to us and friends he should have been.

I wanted to make this Christmas special for my mom since it was our first Christmas without my dad. I planned to make a nice gourmet dinner like my dad did and to decorate the house big for the holidays inside and out. I got up early in the morning and had my list of items to buy and locations mapped out that I needed to go to. I left not knowing what was going to happen that day.

I was shopping in this department store and I was halfway done with my list of items to gather for Christmas. I wanted something that would WOW my mom when she saw the gift. I entered into this store and saw an Angel standing just over four feet tall. The angel I thought was beautifully done visually with an elegant gown, great detail to the face and large wings opened on her back. I felt drawn towards the figure and said to myself, 'This is what I'm looking for. This is the WOW that will make her Christmas.' After my dad's death my mother started to collect angel figurines and I knew she would love this angel added to her collection.

I walked to my car with the angel and started to put it in the vehicle. Unlocking the car I suddenly smelled this strong odor of cigar smoke in the air. My first thought was that someone was pretty rude to blow their smoke so close to someone. I looked around and saw no one around smoking a cigar or any form of tobacco. I shrugged it off and continued to put the angel in the car. The cigar smell got stronger and then I heard my dad's voice say, 'Mike! You need to go to Tokyo Market now!'

At first I thought I imagined this and thought I must be thinking it's dad because he used to smoke cigars. I got into the car and checked my list and plan for the next location to shop at. Then the cigar smell was in my car, very strong. I never allow anyone to smoke in my car. I started to tingle all over and then heard my dad's voice again in my head: 'Mike! You need to go to Tokyo Market now!' For some reason I responded out loud, 'Dad, if this is you, I have Tokyo Market on my list to go to.' I then heard him again: 'You need to go NOW! Right now!'

"Mike! You need to go to Tokyo Market now! It's a Christmas gift for you and your mother there."

— Mike's father, heard as a voice in his head accompanied by the unmistakable smell of cigar smoke

I'm thinking this can't be happening. I was caught off guard and not expecting to argue with my dad about a place to shop at. I started to drive to the next location and heard his voice again. 'Mike, you need to go now! It's a Christmas gift for you and your mother there.' Hearing this I started to fight back the tears. I replied back out loud in my car, 'Dad, I'm going there now.'

The cigar smell disappeared and I no longer heard my dad talking to me. I drove to the other side of town to reach the Tokyo Market — a store that specializes in imported gourmet food from Japan. I arrived at the store not knowing what I was supposed to be looking for. As I walked towards the store door the smell of cigar smoke returned. Entering inside the store I was drawn to an item on the front store display. As I went to look at the item, I heard my dad's voice again: 'Don't look at that! Go to the left of the store and go to the last cabinet and look inside! There you will see yours and your mother's Christmas gift.'

I walked to the last cabinet and looked inside. Then my eyes were drawn to one item. It was an item my dad had wanted the store to order for him — something he had tried for five years to get and the store had never been able to find or import from Japan. They had finally got it. I grabbed every package of the item to purchase and headed to the register to cash out.

The cashier was surprised to see that I had the entire stock of the item. She said, 'You're not buying all of these are you? We had a customer who has requested this for over five years and we have lost his phone number. We are hoping he comes in and gets this. Can you leave a couple of these just in case he returns?' I asked, 'Can you describe this man for me?' After the cashier described my dad perfectly, I reached for my wallet and showed her a photo of my dad. 'Is this him?' I asked. She replied, 'Yes.'

I explained to her that he had passed away during the summer and I was his son. She then said, 'I guess it was meant to be for you to come in here and buy this.' I didn't share with her what had brought me there. I thanked her and wished her a Merry Christmas. Leaving the store I smelled the cigar and heard my dad's voice for the last time saying, 'Merry Christmas!'

I stopped any further shopping and decided to drive straight home. I needed to share what had just happened with my mom. When I got home I decided to give my mom her Christmas gifts. I told her she needed to sit down and prepare to hear how these gifts had come to be. I had her close her eyes and then proceeded into the room with the four-foot-tall angel. She opened her eyes to see this elegant angel and became overwhelmed with happiness.

I then told her, 'I have one more gift for you and it's in this bag. First though I need to tell you how I got this item in this bag.' I shared my experience and then handed her the bag to open, saying to her, 'Merry Christmas, from dad.' She gave me a big hug and we both cried with tears of happiness.