by Emily Wemhoff

Christmas Eve 2002. My entire family was running around the house enjoying the Christmas spirit and getting ready for mass. Leftover ham and mashed potatoes were still lying out as my sister Nicole was arguing with my mom about what she had to wear to church.  My brother and I were still debating whether we should put out the “reindeer food” for Santa’s animals later that night or skip it altogether.

Because of the traditional Wemhoff chaos, we decided to take two cars to church because we didn’t have enough room for my family and my grandparents in one car.  Mass was packed as usual, and my 8-year-old self could hardly stand the anticipation of waiting for Santa Claus that night.

Mass ended and we headed home. We were there for probably 20 minutes. That’s when we realized that a certain someone was not with us. That’s right, my parents had left my brother, poor little Jon, at church. Sometime after mass, Jon had escaped us and managed to sneak to the children’s choir to socialize. My parents each thought he was with the other one. We were mortified.

First plan of action for my parents: briefly yell and blame each other about how they could leave their son at church alone. Second plan of action: argue about who had to go pick him up. Personally, I suggested we leave him there, but my request was denied.  So my parents drove back up to St. Charles, expecting to find a crying five year old child all alone.  But Jon didn’t even realize we were gone!  If that doesn’t tell you how much love we share in this family, I don’t know what does.

This adventure honestly was not that out of the ordinary for my family. We just shrugged it off and avoided telling it to the public until now.  Every Christmas season I think about this story all over again and this is just too funny of an incident to keep in the dark.

Even today, Jon still holds a grudge. He brings it up almost every time he wants something from my parents. “Mom, please can you get me this game? Remember the time when you left me afraid and alone at Christmas Eve Mass?”  Automatically, my mom gives in. I still think we should have left him there.

Final say: Don’t forget your siblings this holiday season or leave them at church by themselves. Ever. Or they will never forgive you for it.