Origin: England

Author: Unknown

In the very early 1800’s, a young boy about 14 years old named John lived in an orphanage in England along with several other boys. John had absolutely nothing to call his own. None of the children did.

There was nothing happy or loving about this orphanage. The orphanage was administered by a master and his wife who were short on love but high on discipline. They allowed no childlike play, no expression of compassion, no understanding.

The orphans living there spent every day of the year working. They worked in gardens, cleaned, sewed and cooked for wealthy families. They were up at dawn and worked until dark and usually received only one meal a day.

Christmas was the one day of the year when the children did not work. Each Christmas they received a gift. Something to call their own. This special gift was an orange.

The boys at the orphanage prized their orange so much that they usually kept it for several days, weeks, and even months — protecting it, smelling it, touching it and loving it. They tried to savor and preserve it for so long that it often rotted before they ever peeled it to enjoy the sweet juice. Each year as Christmas time approached, some boys would brag, “I will keep mine the longest.”

John had been in the orphanage long enough to look forward with delight and anticipation to his orange. John usually slept with his next to his pillow. He would put it right by his nose and smell of its goodness, holding it tenderly and carefully as not to bruise it. It gave him security and a sense of well-being, hope and dreams of a future filled with good food and a life different from this meager existence.

This year John was overjoyed by the Christmas season. He was becoming a man. He knew he was becoming stronger and soon he would be old enough to leave. He planned to save his orange until his birthday in July. He thought if he preserved it very carefully, kept it cool and did not drop it, the orange might just last that long.

Christmas day finally came. The children were excited as they entered the big dining hall. In John’s excitement and because of his oversized feet, he tripped, causing a disturbance. Immediately the master roared, “John, leave the hall and there will be no orange for you this year.” John’s heart broke violently wide open. He began to cry. He turned and went swiftly back to the cold room where the boys slept.

Sometime later, John heard the door open and the other boys enter the room. Little Mark with a smile on his face and tears in his eyes held out a piece of rag to John. “Here John,” he said, “this is for you.”

John accepted the gift. As he lifted back the edges of the rag he saw a big juicy orange all peeled and broken into 10 segments.  John was shocked as he realized what they had done!  Ten of the boys had peeled their orange this very night – not saving it – and given one piece to John.  Their combined segments create one big, beautiful new orange for John.

John never forgot the sharing, love and personal sacrifice his friends had shown him that Christmas day. While John’s beginning was meager, his growth to manhood was rewarded by wealth and success. In memory of that day every year he would send oranges all over the world to children everywhere. His desire was that no child would ever spend Christmas without a special Christmas fruit!