CHRISTMAS: Bradford native Carole Longo-Harris sent a story for us to share with an important message for Christmas. 

She called it “Christmas in the ‘Hood.”

“One Christmas Day while my family was scattered across the country I was home alone still waiting for a big surprise when the phone rang. 

“’Merry Christmas. Veronica and I want you to come to our house today,’ Emmanuel said.

“I met this wonderful Sudanese refugee couple and their four children at an INS center in Trenton after they escaped starvation, torture and infirmity. Emmanuel and many other Christian Sudanese men had small round, deep scars by their right temple. In Khartoum, Egypt while they were in prison, nails were pounded in their heads because they were Christians. 

“Emmanuel and Veronica invited me to their house because his mother, Mary, who lived in a refugee camp for three years in Kenya, had just arrived and wanted to meet me. Also one of his nine brothers was visiting from Tennessee with his family.

“’How many kids?’ I asked.

“’Eight!’ Eight is enough, I thought. ‘Sure, I’d love to come over.’

“Suddenly a fearful chill invaded my body and lingered for fifteen minutes. Emmanuel lived in a dangerous block of Hanover Street in Trenton, New Jersey. 

“Finally, my old friend, Christmas Spirit, overcame the fear. I packed up my 1989 Nissan sleigh with treats and toys saved for another refugee family then zoomed out of the suburbs straight to the ‘hood.”

“The old red-brick row houses on Hanover Street all looked alike with several house numbers missing. On every corner drug dealers with long metal pipes in their hands protected their turf. As someone approached, I said, ‘Merry Christmas! Feliz Navidad!’ smiling nervously.”

The second half of her story will be shared tomorrow.