Christmas Bread

Christmas Bread by Maud Van Buren

Doctor Mary Madison, a busy and successful surgeon, spends the morning before Christmas distracted by her practice, giving only partial attention to her small daughter Merle, who wistfully wishes for a proper surprise-filled stocking and a real family Christmas rather than a pre-known present and a day sent off to spend with the unrelated Winchesters while her mother operates. Merle learns from her governess, Miss Frothingham, that the Rutledge children—Doctor Madison's estranged brother Timothy's family—are having a hard Christmas because Tim has been gravely ill with pneumonia after the household went through whooping cough, and the children may not even hang up stockings. That evening, prompted by a request to sort donations for a rummage sale, Doctor Madison and Miss Frothingham work through the attic of the doctor's grandparents' house with Merle. Amid old clothes, furs, and keepsakes, the doctor grows unexpectedly reflective, speaking of her lonely widowhood (her husband George died before Merle was born), her demanding profession, and her long-ago rift with her brother Timmy over a disagreement involving pictures, rugs, and their Aunt Lizzie's will. In an old sweater of Timmy's, she finds crusts of bread he used to eat for her as a child because she hated eating her own crusts, and the memory overwhelms her. She abruptly decides to leave the sorting to Miss Frothingham and takes Merle to visit her brother. At the Rutledge house, Doctor Madison ("Molly") and her sister-in-law Cassie reconcile warmly, and Cassie confirms Timmy has been very ill and weak, with baby John teething and the family exhausted. Tommy and Rawley, the boys, expect only candy and fruit from Santa because of their father's illness and general hard times; a stocking is shyly hung for baby John too. Merle is sent to bed with her cousins Tommy and Rawley while Molly and Cassie talk. Molly calls toy-seller Mr. Waldteufel, whose wife and baby she once saved, and he opens his store so she can buy toys. She and Cassie spend the night decorating a tree "stolen" from the grocer, filling stockings, and talking about Tim's business partnership with Jim Prescott and plans to send the family to the Madison family's shore property, Beachaways, for his recovery. Molly checks on Tim as he sleeps restlessly, then returns home, bathes, and comes back before dawn. She and Tim reunite tenderly, recalling childhood memories including their mother's early death and their old private phrase "demon liars." Molly feeds him milk-toast, which he eats attentively despite his weak appetite. She reveals she used to pass him her bread crusts under the table as a child; he cannot quite recall it, but delights in the reunion, the recovering family, and the reopened bond with his sister. The story closes with Cassie observing that bread carries symbolic weight—"bread upon the waters," the breaking of bread, the sacrament—and Molly agreeing, calling it "Christmas bread," while still holding the crusts and her brother's hand.

By Maud Van Buren · First published 1927 · Genre: Family Drama, Christmas Fiction, Sentimental Fiction · 11,812 words

First lines

_Kathleen Norris_

"But what time will your operation be over, mother?"

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Christmas Bread is listed on Textopian as a novella by Maud Van Buren, dated 1927 CE.

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festive · seasonal · holiday · baking · culinary · family-centered · tradition · domestic · early-twentieth-century · short-story · winter · food-themed

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