For Cubs superstar Andre Dawson, memories of his 10th Christmas Eve, a seemingly endless night, remain vivid.
”I wanted a bike, a big kid`s bike, one with no training wheels, in the worst way,” says the Miami native. ”But because of the size of my family-and there were seven of us by then-I wasn`t positive I was going to get it.
”Even so, I went to bed early Christmas Eve . . . I`d look at the clock and it`d be 10:05, then 10:09, then 10:13, then 10:24. Finally, I did fall asleep but I woke up very early the next morning and went downstairs to look under the tree.”
And what was there?
”A new bike. It was a Schwinn, a big, red Schwinn. No training wheels, cool-looking. A big kid`s bike. And it was mine. Suddenly, I was a big kid.
”I know what my family went through to make sure I got exactly the kind I wanted. As much as their effort, it was also the fact that they were more or less acknowledging that little Andre was growing up. It`s still a very warm feeling to think about that morning.”
Today, hundreds of home runs later, Dawson really can`t think of any gift ”that I didn`t sincerely appreciate. Any heartfelt gift is a treasure, a sign of love or sincere affection, sort of a reaffirmation of family or community.”
