During the Christmas of 1971, an 11-year-old Janet Defever learned lessons about Santa Claus, forgiveness, second chances and being human, while on an Alma dairy farm.
Decades later, these vivid memories and moving lessons from life-on-the-farm have found their way into
Defever’s debut children’s book,
Second Chance Christmas.
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Defever’s childhood consisted of many labor-intensive farm tasks, much different than most of her peers’ upbringing. Her early memories consist of cows, sheep, chickens, pigs, lots of work and responsibility. While her classmates were at Girl Scouts activities, cheerleading, or hanging out together after school, she was busy carrying pails of milk, filling buckets with grain, and spreading bales of straw on the farm.
“Agriculture has changed a lot in 50 years. When I was growing up on the dairy farm, things were not automated like they are now. We needed a lot of hands to help do all of the work,” she says. “I became very resentful by the time I got into late elementary years, my friends were starting to do things socially, but we just weren’t able to.
“My mom said ‘We need you home to do the chores and help out,’ so I was never able to do any of those things my friends were doing, and I got very resentful. That kind of spilled into my attitude about my work on the farm.”
Having that much responsibility as
an adolescent could be stressful, and sometimes, Defever felt the heaviness of it all. She became fed up with life on the farm. Her original book details how a sibling fight broke out around the dishes in the sink, and made young Janet grow weary about whether or not her actions would stop Santa from bringing her any presents this year.
Christmas time was a big deal for her because presents weren’t a common occurrence on birthdays or other occasions, rather, just on December 25.
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“Christmas was your one shot in the year to get a toy, or something new and fun,” she says. “When I explain that to the kids, it makes it more meaningful. They understand why I was so upset when my sister and I got caught fighting over doing dishes.”
As an adult, Defever worked with children as a paraprofessional at Hillcrest Elementary in Alma for nearly a decade. While on playground duty around Christmas time, students started sharing their personal holiday presents and memories, and Defever joined in.
“I told the kids, ‘I have a bell from Santa’s sleigh,’ and they were just enthralled. They wanted to hear all about it, so I told them about how I found it, and told them I still had it if they wanted me to bring it to school,” Defever says. “They were thrilled, so I brought it to school, and they were just mesmerized by it. From that, they wanted to know more, so I started to tell them more about my growing up years on the farm, and the story just kind of morphed from there.”
The paraprofessional started going from classroom to classroom, sharing the story to bright-eyed students. These young ears provided a great soundboard, helping Defever shape the book’s contents, and answer questions surrounding the storyline. This feedback proved valuable for the progression of “Second Chance Christmas.”
“Anybody that loves to tell stories knows that you do embellish a little bit because you want to make that story bigger than life,” she says. “It was fun to hear the things that the kids caught or had questions about.”
Defever enjoys and cherishes each reaction and response, whether they’re positive, or if the kids were questioning her if Santa is actually real. Others shared their unique experiences and what they related to from the story. After sharing the story hundreds of times, another co-worker suggested the oral story of the bells should become a published book. Defever initially brushed off the idea, but after a few years, she decided to pursue the project.
In January 2022, right after Christmas, she looked up publishers and found Mission Point Press in Traverse City. The writer knew the many hurdles that getting a book publishing deal could bring, so she decided to self-publish.
“Writing the book was fun, but actually going and reading it to students is the best part,” she says. “For me, that’s the most fun part. It’s always interesting, every time, it’s new because you’ve got different kids, different takes on what they perceive Christmas to be, and their own experiences.”
The author has been to different elementary schools across five Michigan counties, sharing the story. She’s also traveled to community events at local libraries and businesses around the holidays to promote the book.
Defever’s story about mistakes, second chances, being human, and being accepted remains a universal timeless message that’s been shared with young kids, middle school age students, and adults alike.
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Reading the 32-page, illustrated picture-book-story to multi-age audiences has been rewarding for the author, as its themes prompt personal memories and provide different touching meanings with each person. Although the picture-book is suggested for four- to 12-year-olds, the story delivers a big lesson for all, including those ‘big kids at-heart.’
“For me, the big takeaway is that we all make mistakes and do things that sometimes we just get the opportunity to apologize for,” Defever says. “Going forward into adulthood, there are a lot of times when we misstep, say something, or do something we didn’t intend to. You don’t always get the opportunity to apologize but having somebody extend grace to you when you have done something wrong is a huge thing.”
Although the book centers around one beloved holiday of the year, the message is relevant year-round.
“There’s such a focus at Christmas time, especially on gifts. The material stuff comes and goes, but I believe the things that we remember most are those moments when somebody extends grace and forgiveness to us when we mess up, and we all mess up,” Defever says.
Defever left the family farm around 23 years old when she moved out to her own apartment, but those lessons on hard work remain with her to this day. She hasn’t fully escaped life on the farm either, although it looks a little different.
Around 31 years ago, Defever and her husband bought her mother’s centennial farm, just about five miles away from where Defever grew up in Alma. Today, the farm is rented out to a local farmer, and a portion of the land is also tied into a big solar farm in Gratiot County.
The fourth-generation steward is retired but continues volunteer work with late elementary and early middle school students and is active in writing groups.
“Second Chance Christmas" is available online as an
audiobook, and for purchase on
Amazon and at local bookstores.
The Downtown Alma Public Library will be hosting Defever for a book reading and signing on Friday, Dec. 13 from 4:15 to 4:45 p.m. as part of their Come Home to Alma for the Holidays event.
Sarah Spohn is a Lansing native, but every day finds a new interesting person, place, or thing in towns all over Michigan, leaving her truly smitten with the mitten. She received her degrees in journalism and professional communications and provides coverage for various publications locally, regionally, and nationally — writing stories on small businesses, arts and culture, dining, community, and anything Michigan-made. You can find her in a record shop, a local concert, or eating one too many desserts at a bakery. If by chance, she’s not at any of those places, you can contact her at sarahspohn@issuemediagroup.com