The First Time - At home

Schroeder sat on the floor of his home practicing as he did every afternoon. And, as also happened every afternoon, Lucy was laying against the piano, doing her best to look attractive and demure. Schroeder, as usual, was doing his best to ignore her.

"Schroeder, do you love me?" Lucy turned around to face him.

Schroeder ignored the question, concentrating instead on a tricky bit of fingering. It was important to get this right. It always was, but this time of the year especially so.

"I asked, do you love me?" Lucy spoke a bit louder. When she continued to be ignored, she thought about yelling at him, but then really heard the melody he was playing. Something slow and kind of solemn, yet with an inner beauty that captured her imagination and caused her to forget all about her question. She turned and settled back against the piano again. The question would wait; the music would not.

The Second Time - At school

It was an honor to be selected to play at the school holiday assembly. Though other holidays had been added to the celebration over the years, still for Schroeder it was all about Christmas, and especially Christmas music. Religious, secular, it didn't matter to him. He loved it all.

He'd chosen a mixed playlist for his concert this year. He started off with "Jingle Bells" and ended it with the "Hallelujah Chorus". There were those who'd said that there was no way he could do the latter on a toy piano, and he took an immense private pleasure in proving them wrong.

He bowed to thunderous applause, then left the stage, carrying his piano tucked under one arm. All in a day's work.

The Third Time - At the mall

Charlie Brown hurried through the mall on a mission. He was going to find the perfect present for the red-haired girl or bust! As he rushed down the mall's massive corridors on his quest, he saw Schroeder sitting in the center of one of the circular seating areas ubiquitous to malls everywhere. Curious, he stopped. He couldn't stay long if he wanted to get his shopping done, but he just had to know why Schroeder was here in this place where no one could possibly hear him or appreciate what he was offering.

"Why are you here?" Charlie Brown asked as he walked over to where Schroeder sat. "I thought you hated the commercialization of Christmas."

"I do." Meanwhile, Schroeder's hands never stopped dancing over the keys, the tinkling sound of the toy piano still managing somehow to overcome all the noise and bustle of the busy mall.

"Then why...?" Charlie Brown gestured around him at the hurrying shoppers, the very essence of the commercialization of the holidays.

"Where else should I be? These folks need me. They need to remember the real reason they're here."

"To get fifty-percent off for the holidays?"

"No," Schroeder replied patiently. "To remember the birth of our Lord."

And somehow, his mission didn't seem nearly as important now. Charlie Brown stood there and let himself be drawn into the magic of one person making a difference.

And slowly, others came as well. Some stayed for only a few minutes, some for longer, but all left more calm and happy than when they'd stopped. Schroeder smiled to himself and kept playing.

The Fourth Time - At the retirement home

He'd been asked to play at the retirement home and he'd gladly accepted the gig. It was a pleasure to bring some joy into the lives of those who felt that joy, as with so much else, had simply passed them by.

He could see years fall away as they listened. After a time, he heard voices begin to join in, timidly at first, but then louder and stronger. The notes weren't always correct, but it didn't really matter. What mattered was the joy and the love and the power of the music and that they had in plenty.

The Fifth Time - At church

He played the accompaniment to the pageant as he'd done for years. Lessons and carols, said and sung to the sounds of a tinkly toy piano that somehow in this space seemed to be more than it otherwise would have been. No one questioned the miracle, just accepted it and was thankful for it.

And the music soared as the voices rose and fell in perfect harmony with a tiny toy piano.

The Sixth Time - At the homeless shelter

He gave of himself to those who had next to nothing. In doing so, he gave them hope, he gave them beauty, he gave them a reminder of a time when things were better. They left for the day smiling and they returned to their beds that night still smiling.

Schroeder thought it was the best Christmas present he had ever received.

The Seventh Time - At the baseball diamond

"Schroeder, what on Earth are you doing here?" Lucy challenged, gesturing to the empty ball field.

"Well, it's not like it's a place of cheer during the baseball season. It might as well have some cheer now." He ignored Lucy's glare and continued his playing.

"But it's cold!"

"I have this," he replied, unperturbed. He patted the blanket spread over the pitcher's mound.

"There's no one here to hear you."

"You're here."

Lucy had no reply to that, but stood there, her breath a frozen plume in the air, watching in amazement as Schroeder's hands danced over the keyboard as if he were in the warmest of houses, rather than on a barren playing field in the middle of December.

Eventually, she stumped off, grumbling, but only as far as the bleachers. She sat down and listened to the strains of music filling the air. Reluctantly, she had to admit he was right. It really did bring a more festive air to the place. In her mind's eye, she saw lights glowing, baubles decorating the stands. Around her, the very energy of the air seemed to lighten.

And Schroeder smiled.

The Eighth Time - At the
bus stop

He started a jam session at the bus stop one day. Christmas carols, played jazzy and sweet. Soon, the folks were joining in, beating time on whatever they had - books, briefcases, stomping out the rhythm on the sidewalk if they had nothing else.

He kept playing. He played for the folks going to work. He played for the kids going to school. He played and the laughter and joy he saw on their faces kept him warm, kept him going. He was still there when they came home from work, from school, from the thousand and one places they'd been in the course of a day.

"You still here?" he was asked by more than one soul amazed at his stamina and his dedication.

"I love what I do," he said and kept on playing.

The Ninth Time - At the Christmas party

This year the annual Peanuts gang Christmas party was at the Van Pelts. Lucy was charging around, making sure in her loud, bossy way that everything was going perfectly. Linus was hovering over in a corner with a group of kids, having a discussion about religious versus secular holidays and if they could be combined without losing the purpose of both. Rerun was gathering a group himself in another corner, though his discussion was a debate swiftly degenerating into an argument about the latest and best toys.

Through the ups and downs of conversation and eating, the sounds of a toy piano being skillfully played could be heard. Schroeder was at it again. Lucy hadn't even asked him to play - he'd just brought his piano and set it up without question or comment.

"Why don't you go enjoy yourself?" Lucy demanded.

"I am," he replied and kept on playing.

The Tenth Time - At the pond

There was a skating party going on down at the pond. Everyone was there, even Snoopy, skating around on his bare paws. (Everyone else chose to use skates.) Everybody was having a great time though, gliding around under the cloudy sun, enjoying the music that floated through the icy air.

Sally Brown skated over to where Schroeder sat on the shore, piano safely laying on a blanket above the snow.

"Don't you get cold?" Sally asked.

"Not when I'm playing."

"Why not?"

"I don't know. It's the magic I guess."

"Magic?"

"Yeah. There's something about when I play that's pure magic. It comes down and keeps me safe and warm, no matter where I'm playing."

"Hunh," Sally said and skated away across the ice.

Schroeder turned back to his piano and began coaxing the magic back to life.

The Eleventh Time He Didn't - Out at the Charlie Brown Tree

The blue velvet of the night hung over them all as they celebrated the holiday out at what had become known as the Charlie Brown Tree. To accentuate the miracle, the tiny twig of a tree had remained alive for years now, neither growing fuller than it had grown that first night nor dying off as would have been expected of a cut tree.

Schroeder spread out a sheet of vinyl, then a blanket, then sat down with his piano and started to play. But after a few notes, he stopped, the music fading away into the wintry night. He realized suddenly that the splendor of the scene around him needed no additions. At the inquiring looks from his friends, he gestured around him.

"This needs no ornament. It's beautiful just as it is." And he rose and went to join his friends around the tree, the silver moonlight spilling down upon them all, anointing them with its bright blessings. If they listened hard, they could almost hear a silvery, snow-filled music, the sound of winter, of rebirth, of promise and hope. Together, they joined hands in wordless celebration. Truly, they needed nothing else.

Merry Christmas! :-)