No success again this year. However, they did print the following, which is of a similar vein:
A Candle In The Window
A candle burns and flickers
in the window of her room,
the way it has each night,
and she prays that this will
be the one that guides her husband
from across the ocean,
to its soft and welcome light.
While the cold winds of December
beat against the outside wall,
safe inside, a young boy snuggles down to bed,
but no Daddy’s bedtime story for one so small.
For his daddy is a soldier
and has gone where war has led.
It’s so difficult explaining
just why daddy isn’t home,
and why other boys have
two grown-ups to care,
and why, when he wakes up crying
only Mum comes to his room,
and why all his friends have daddies,
while his own is never there.
And, when she decorates the Christmas tree,
why do the lights not work,
and the wrapping on the presents look a sight?
And why is the turkey scrawny
with a texture just like chalk,
and her hair one complete puzzle
that she can never get right?
With moistened eyes she thinks again
of strong and loving arms,
and that warm embrace
which overcomes all stress.
Oh, just to feel that sometimes
when her world comes tumbling down
that he could be there beside her
to help clear the mess.
But tomorrow will be Christmas,
when she’ll watch her child at play,
and will brace herself to once more face the test.
For although his chair will be empty on the day,
she will look down into eyes of blue,
and know she’s Heaven blessed.
Then that night when all is silent,
she will offer up a prayer,
for her God to show his grace and end the fight,
so the man she loves may hurry home
to find them waiting there,
with a candle in the window,
and it’s light still burning bright.