Welcome back, Marilyn. Always a pleasure to have you visit. Your blog post title intrigued me, so without further ado…(and wow, loved this interpretation)!

Ebenezer Scrooge: A Case for Compassion

     In 2020, we are all getting a taste of a Scrooge Christmas. There are no grand shopping excursions for gifts, or gatherings with family. Many are working over the holidays because “we will just be home anyway” or keeping the thermostat low because they haven’t been able to work for months. The difference between our 2020 holiday season and Scrooge’s is we are isolated together. If you recall the character from Charles Dicken’s classic tale, A Christmas Carol, spent Christmases alone before he became the head of a counting-house. He was a boarding school student whose parents left him in school over the holiday break. I always wondered why this was left out of the cartoon versions I watched as a kid.

     To remedy this, I read different versions of A Christmas Carol with my son in our homeschool each year. As his literary skills grow the abridged copies get closer and closer to the original. Last year, my son was quite upset after reading an accurate portrayal of the Ghost of Christmas Past’s journey. When I asked my nine-year-old about it, he sobbed he was Ebenezer Scrooge. My autistic son believed Scrooge was also autistic.

I was floored. The diagnosis didn’t exist in the 1500s, so could it be possible?

The wisdom of my nine-year-old came out between hiccups and snot rockets (his term) but nevertheless profound. Whether or not Scrooge was on the autism spectrum, having a childhood where he was completely ignored would result in comfort routines not involving people and a general distrust of the human race. The only quasi-normal relationship we see in Scrooge’s past is with Isabelle who is pushing him into marriage, a convention he wouldn’t understand if he were isolated.

We wrote his argument together in a section of my new release “Round of Applause” where the homeschooled boys of Strawberry, KY discuss Scrooge. Newly graduated Ph.D. Aurora leads five mini-werewolves and a tween witch in a literature discussion that defies convention. Here is a piece of the conversation:

“It takes me a while to warm up to people, even longer to put my trust in them. Isabelle would have to wait for me, too, not because I’m a miser but because I’m shy. If Scrooge had a horrible family growing up, he would be more reserved than me.”

 “Maybe Scrooge counted his money to reduce his social anxiety, like my drumming on the tables. What if he counted money as a stim? It said he used his schoolwork to replace the love of his parents at Christmas time. What if his career building was a way to escape, like my music?” Henrik asks.

 “If Isabelle couldn’t see that, it wasn’t love,” Matteo says. “She wasn’t good enough for him anyway.” My class sits in shocked silence. I didn’t think Matteo ever spoke. To hear him speaking of true love is even more earth-shattering.

“He sounds like me,” Ray says.

“Scrooge sounds a lot like me too,” Henrik says. “Does he have to be a villain?”

“What if he’s not a villain but someone who got so buried in their comfort routines, they forgot the rest of the world? He forgot how to be friends because he was too busy keeping his heart safe. Aurora, is the point of this book to take chances on people? Is this one of those walk-in-the-shoes-of-others lessons Alison is always teaching us?” Vincenzo asks, squinting his eyes in suspicion. 

As the virus becomes a relic of the past, we may find ourselves with more comfort routines than before quarantine. Please remember to be kind to one another as we reacclimate ourselves to societal life. When we find our new normal, there will be those who choose to remain in our introverted existence which gave them comfort in these trying times. They aren’t misers, just slow to open their hearts. It is with patience, acceptance, and kindness that we can earn the gift of having someone open up to us who may shut out the rest of the world. More than a shopping spree, it is the reason for the season. Happy Holidays from the Strawberry Shifters.

From Jean: (as a parent also to an autistic child, my mind is blown by this interpretation, as I always encourage my kids to be nurturing and compassionate)

   Strawberry Shifters Book 2: Round of Applause Buy Links

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An Excerpt from Round of Applause:

“Thank you for the offer,” I say after taking a deep breath, “but I decided to go through with the surgery. I need to own this. I hope you both understand.”

“I have been advising everyone the surgery is what you needed. I knew what was best for you,” James says placing his hand on my shoulder. Something about the gesture makes me feel suffocated. I shrug his hand off and push Nate’s hands away.

“You don’t get to do that,” I say looking James in the eye. “This is my consequence for my actions.”

“Of course, we both will comfort you as you grieve—” Nate starts.

“You don’t get to do that either,” I say acidly. “Who said I needed to grieve? I will have to relearn a lot of tasks, but I want the challenge. I want to live. I want to live as a stronger version of myself. I want to be the girl who survived a month of torment to cut herself from the chains.”

“We are sorry it happened to you,” says Nate.

“Yes, we feel sorry on your behalf,” adds James.

“That’s the problem,” I thunder. “If you were listening, you would know I’m not sorry. You don’t have the right to be more upset, more offended, or more…more…anything, than me! You can’t take this away.”

Marilyn Barr currently resides in the wilds of Kentucky with her husband, son, and rescue cats. She has a diverse background containing experiences as a child prodigy turned medical school reject, published microbiologist, special education/inclusion science teacher, homeschool mother of a savant, certified spiritual & energy healer, and advocate for the autistic community. This puts her in the position to bring tales containing heroes who are regular people with different ability levels and body types, in a light where they are powerful, lovable, and appreciated.

When engaging with the real world, she is collecting characters, empty coffee cups, and unused homeschool curricula. She is a sucker (haha) for cheesy horror movies, Italian food, punk music, black cats, bad puns, and all things witchy.

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