Review: Uplifting and Touching Christmas Story
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 20, 2012
This novelette is a beautiful and touching little story that hits the spot during this festive season. It may change your attitude to panhandlers.The main character is a single, unemployed father who can't find work and is trying his best to take care of his daughter Angie while avoiding charity or welfare. So he begs on the streets. His wife abandoned them and took off to Vegas to pursue a career as a showgirl and provides no support. It's usually deadbeat Dads we read about and here it is a deadbeat Mom.The author is from Vancouver, B.C. and says the story is based on a real experience from an interview he did with a street panhandler in downtown Vancouver after he took him out for a meal and took notes.Greg, the main character, meets an old girlfriend who lends a helping hand to him and his daughter. When his daughter suffers a fall and goes into a coma in hospital, Greg finds himself at his lowest point. But he soon learns that there is sometimes a reason why things happen.I enjoyed this short read, only 95 pages, and found it generally an uplifting, moving story. My only problem is with the ending which I found abrupt.Spoiler Alert:It left the reader hanging about whether his daughter Angie wakes up. It simply said: "If you're an optimist, she wakes up", "if you're a pessimist, she doesn't." The story really doesn't have closure and I'm a firm believer that a story should have a beginning, a middle and an end. I think it's a bit of a cop-out for an author to leave it up to the reader to decide the ending. Other people may differ with my opinion, but that's why I give it 4 stars instead of five. But still a worthwhile read and it's properly edited too.