A Different Christmas

Christopher was a very excited little six year old boy.  He just knew Santa was going to bring what he was hoping for. 

Unfortunately, Christopher was in the ER.  I was on call as a first year resident and he had gotten sicker over the past few days in spite of his pediatrician’s treatment.  The x-ray and labs showed pneumonia.  He needed to be admitted.  

It was 9 PM Christmas Eve.  

I went back in the room to see him after an initial visit.  His parents already knew it was coming.  Christopher clearly didn’t.  

When I told him that he needed to be admitted to the hospital he burst into tears.  He thought that Santa would just skip over his house and he wouldn’t get the thing he was wanting so badly.  His parents tried to console him, but he couldn’t stop crying. 

It was the loss of his ideal Christmas.

Once he settled down a little and could listen, I asked him why he was so upset.  He told me about the thing he wanted.  He told me he thought he would never get it now.  His dad, standing next to him holding him in the bed looked at me with a pleading look of “help me.” 

“So, that’s why you are so upset?” I asked.

“Yes!” Snort. Blow nose.  Cry.  Snort.  Blow nose again. 

“Oh, well I’m sorry.  I haven’t told you we have a special way of handling this sort of situation. Please give me just a minute.” 

I turned to the phone on the wall in the exam room, picked up the receiver, and punched in some numbers I knew.  

“Yes, this is Dr. Littleton in Rome, Georgia.  Please transfer me to Delayed Deliveries.” 

Waited. Waited a little more for effect. 

“Yes, this is Dr. Littleton at Floyd Medical in Rome, Georgia.  I need to ask Santa to delay a delivery for a hospital admission.”

The teary eyed cry-snort-blow-nose routine had stopped at this point and was now big eyes with wiping nose stare.  

“Yes, it is for six year old Christopher Fricks* of Rome, Georgia.  First of all, has he been a good boy this year?”

A concerning glance from Christopher.  

“Okay.  Good.  He’s going to be in the hospital a few days and I’d like to ask Santa to delay his delivery until he gets home.” 

Several more glances to his dad.  A look of satisfaction and knowing now slowly settling on dad’s face.  

“Uh-huh.  Yes.  Yes, that’s him.  Hey, by the way, what’s he getting?  Uh-huh.  Oh, nice.  Okay.  Thanks.  Please let Santa know we appreciate it.” I hung up the phone.  

“You can do that?” Christopher asked. 

“Yes.  It happens a lot, actually.  Not a big deal.  Let’s get you upstairs, get you some medicine, and get you home in a few days. Santa makes late deliveries like the UPS guys in certain situations.  No brown shorts, thankfully.”

He went home after a few days.  His dad thanked me later.  It all worked out as well as possible. 

There will be a lot of people on Christmas Eve this year who know that, because of changes in the past year, their ideal Christmas Day won’t be occurring this year.  I have listened and witnessed some of the most heartbreaking stories this year.  I also have seen some finally see a loved one at peace. 

Their peace still is fleeting on certain days. 

Their will be an absence.  An empty chair or chairs.  One less stocking.  No gifts under the tree with a certain name or names.  

A quiet acceptance of a loss that has now moved from the initial phase of tears to the daily reality of near-tears.  An understanding and acceptance that life will be much different now. 

And this will be the first Christmas Day with that new reality.  

May we all be reminded to say a kind word, pray our prayers, and possibly show a small gesture of remembrance to those who are walking a much different road this year in their life.  

They will appreciate it.  

*(Name changed)

Eric J. Littleton, M.D. (@DrEricLittleton) is a Family Physician in Sevierville, TN.  His office is in the UT Regional Health Center Sevierville at 1130 Middle Creek Road. Topics covered are general in nature and should not be used to change medical treatments and/or plans without first discussing with your physician. Send questions to askdrlittleton@gmail.com

Football and Life: Triumphs Don't Always Have Trophies

It was a miserable football season that needed to be put down.  

The uniforms stunk.  The locker room wreaked of failure.  Even the stadium lights were tired of watching the pitiful display and wanted to be turned off and hibernate for the winter. 

It was Harriman’s 1982 football team.  I was a sophomore and we went 0-10.  We weren’t actually very close to any victory.  It was a miserable experience.  The only good thing to be said was we didn’t quit. Well, at least we didn't quit putting on the uniform.  

We didn’t believe we could win.  We didn’t know what that felt like.  We didn’t have unity in effort and therefore turned on each other in individual battles and conflicts. Our reward for the season was new practice jerseys for the spring that proclaimed “Team First.  Me Second” on the front.  

In striking contrast, the scene that unfolded on the campus of Tennessee Technological University last Friday night was wonderful to witness.  The stands appeared nearly full on the Sevier County side as they faced Independence High School for the state 5A football championship.  The community showed up in support of a team which has represented the community so well.  

The band performed a great halftime routine.  The cheerleaders, constantly leading in rallying support for the team all year, unfurled a banner for the band at the end of halftime in appreciation.  It was a beautiful display of what a community should be.  

The players, as they have all year, went about their business in pregame with an ease and looseness that has been their nature this year.  They had traveled nearly 1,000 miles this season, practiced in heat and cold, seen good and bad plays, and were ready to play one more game.  

They had played on television, unheard of in my day, four times.  They played in a historic castle in Bristol, defeated a strong Morristown West team not once, but twice, and handed a very nice loss to a brash team from Rhea County whose fans had lit up social media prior to the game.  Knowing Rhea County is just south of Rockwood, it’s a safe guess there’s not much else to do there. 

For the Sevier County players Friday night, there was no conversation of skin color or ethnicity.  There was no thought of socio-economic status.  There was no categorizing of players by religious beliefs or intellectual achievements.  It was a team, representing one color, one high school, one community, one goal, working together to see it to the end.  It was the community, the band, the cheerleaders, and the families showing up in the stands to affirm their effort.  

It is a display of what makes this country great.  Or, what should make this country great.  Individuals with unique talents in multiple areas choosing to sacrifice their time to work hard for a unified goal achieved only by delayed gratification, willing acceptance of pain, and yielding of one’s own notoriety in order to see a teammate succeed.  

There is good evidence from scientific studies that a long and happy life is achieved by being an active part of a community and family, interacting, loving, accepting and forgiving as one goes through life.  This is what this team displayed this year.  Every player sees the successes and failures of the other players on the practice field, Friday night, and then on watching the film of the games later on.  And then they move on to the next game. 

Sevier County lost the ballgame to Independence High School, arguably the best team in the state.  Independence twice beat Centennial High School, who had beaten Ravenwood during the season.  Ravenwood beat Maryville for the 6A state championship.  The TSSAA should schedule one more game between 6A Ravenwood and 5A Independence this Friday.  

I realized just prior to the game that thirty years before I had first stepped foot on the beautiful campus of Tennessee Tech to begin my college career. Twenty years ago I began walking the sidelines as a physician in Rome, Georgia, later to take the role of sideline reporter for the local radio broadcast of the Sevier County football games on WSEV 105.5 with my good friends Jay Adams and Greg Davis.  We have seen some great games in our 15 years of broadcasting. The opportunity to be a part of a state championship game was a long held desire and a tremendous privilege.   

The players were clearly disappointed with the game’s outcome, but will realize in time the complete success and victory in the lesson’s outcome.  Every principle for success in life as a person, a student, a businessman, and community leader has been learned from their season - others before self, forgiveness of failures in others and ourselves, focus on the goal, work for the next opportunity, show love and appreciation for those who support and cheer you on, and get out of bed and go to work when others sleep and when it hurts.   

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” and as opposed to our culture’s common “Do unto others before they do it to you.”

It is a victory for the players, and a lesson for all of us.  May this country heed the lessons displayed for us in the football stadiums as we enter the political arena this next year. The peaceful ability to continue to live in freedom and pursue happiness depends on the humility and prayers of the people first, not the politicians. 

Thank you to Coach Linginfelter and the Sevier County Football Team for allowing me to be on the sidelines these many years and to watch and broadcast a game I love.  It’s been a joy and an honor to watch players grow into young men. 

Eric J. Littleton, M.D. (@DrEricLittleton) is a Family Physician in Sevierville, TN.  His office is in the UT Regional Health Center Sevierville at 1130 Middle Creek Road. He was a member of the Harriman High School Football Team during their memorable 8-2 season in 1984.  He is a member of the WSEV radio broadcast for Sevier County High School Football Team.