Let is snow - PART 4 OF 4

Have yourself a merry little Christmas

Arteus pulled into one of those truck parking lots and while I was finding the strength to get up, the three of them decorated the tiniest tree I’ve ever seen. They were planning to exchange gifts in their ‘one hour Christmas celebration’, but they didn’t get me anything so they decided to keep it quiet so I don’t feel excluded. They literally saved my life, but they didn’t deem that a good enough Christmas gift. Their argument was that we would have saved you any other day. A gift needs to be something that you can wrap. Good deeds are not a Christmas-special in this family.

I grew up being a privileged child who got to see Santa Claus every year. My parents would hire some dude to come to our house and place gifts under the tree. There were always dozens of reporters filming me faking my surprise. I always got the most expensive and useless toys. I remember how one year all I wanted was one of those cheap little cars because all my friends had those - I got a collection car that I was never allowed to unbox. At least, that year I got almost what I asked for… Then, when I was 12 and I started to figure out their games and refused to play them, they decided they could get rid of me. And they did.

Christmas with my parents was never really Christmas. Christmas at the orphanage was never really Christmas either. So, my first real one was with Gyz, Arteus and Elvira, in a parking lot. And it was simply magical. For one hour we drank tea and talked. I told them my story and they didn’t judge me, nor did they get jealous of my past. Instead, they hugged me. The first genuine hug I ever felt. I opened up and told them about all the scary thoughts I used to have back then. I had clinical depression and strong PTSD. I’m better now, but you know, some wounds never heal.

Losing the only parental figures we ever had one by one was a huge hit for Elvira and me. But it was a wake-up call for us. That’s when we realised how important it was for teenagers who grew up like us, without a real family, to have someone they could genuinely trust and talk to. I remembered what Gyz wished that year… Elvira had no idea about his dream. I took up youth work training and she, in loving memory of Morgana, took up psychology training. It wasn’t easy. Oh, it wasn’t easy at all. We constantly felt that we were ‘too old’ for all that and wanted to give up billions of times. But it’s never too late to do something that you love.

Then, looking through the books that Morgana left us we found the newspaper article about the problematic teenagers that can’t get adopted. The one that brought Elvira into the family. We knew exactly what we had to do with our newly cultivated skills. We opened M.A.G. You know, we wanted to give you, guys, a safer place. People still think teenagers are inherently evil or something and they expect you to magically turn into a responsible adult after you’ve lived 18 years. But they just hope you’ll be something that they aren’t. Adults don’t exist. They’re just scared children, wearing suits and hating their job. The only thing we are, we are humans who need to be valued and understood in order to grow and become awesome humans. An awesome human can be anything - a librarian, a corporate, a teacher, a barista or anything else. As long as you are supportive of those around you and take care of them, you’re an awesome human.

There, I told you the story. Are you all happy bunnies now? Let’s go eat something. I’m starving. And then, yes, we will open the gifts. Merry Christmas, everyone!

Listen here to the last part of my story: