Member-only story
Meet Jingle Bell Janet
Here’s to Christmas cheer and gifts that keep on giving.
Janet Summers knew she was an anomaly of a girl from the first Jingle Bell party she attended when she was just a kindergartener in a poofy white dress. All the other little girls twirled like sugar plum fairies in perfect synchronization with the holiday music. As for Janet, she moved like an overexcited puppy whose paws were too big for its body.
The girls in their glittery outfits giggled behind their hands, and Janet’s face turned the same shade of mistletoe berries hanging above the auditorium’s entrance.
Needless to say, the show’s Jingle Bell prize — a silver snow globe showcasing an angel with golden wings — did not go to Janet.
The ensuing years in Holly Haven did little to help Janet’s confidence. Her mother, the owner of the local resale shop, would just shake her head when Janet pouted whenever other girls her age were in the vicinity.
“You don’t have to be like them,” her mother said more than once. “Just be the shining star you need to be. You’ll light up the world, my little darling. Just wait and see.”
But all those days and weeks weren’t kind — especially when her mother got sick. Two Christmases in a row, Janet barely had any thoughts for the town’s Jingle Bell…
