'Tis the Season — and the Year — for Giving
We got a group message from a friend, asking if one of us had sent her a gift. We hadn't — and as I told her, I was a bit embarrassed, because I hadn't even purchased gifts for my own children yet! She's still trying to find the mystery gifter. Yesterday, another friend wrote that her coffee and dessert order had been paid for at Panera. My Facebook is filled with friends posting about the kindness they've received in the past days.
These days I read at least one story a day about someone receiving kindness from a total stranger. Nine-year-old Emilee Suddarth from Kansas bakes cakes and desserts for the elderly, because the elderly can't cook for themselves. Emilee first sells her baked goods — and with the proceeds, bakes for the elderly.
Hal Taylor went to Publix to buy groceries; when she went to pay, she realized she'd forgotten her credit card at home. A kind Publix employee offered to pay for her groceries!
And, of course, everyone has read about the Dairy Queen pay-it-forward chain that lasted three days and 900 cars.
Today, a mother wrote in one of the moms' groups that her child had placed her wish list for Santa in their mailbox — and today she received a box full of gifts, with a photocopy of her daughter's list. Amazing! 'Tis the season of giving.
From chefs dropping off loaves of cake for hospital staff to unknown Santas, this may be the year we'll all remember as the one that taught us kindness and gratefulness — gratefulness for life, for the friends and family who call, for the food on the table, for the weather till now (Chicago), for the SharkVacMop, for the sink that fills with dishes in a minute, for the squabbles of the children. All of it points to ONE fact: we have a life.
When this year and the madness of the virus are over, we will have forgotten COVID (human minds are conditioned to forget bad memories over time), the lockdowns, the social distancing. But we should remember the feeling of happiness when someone knocked on our door, when we saw a familiar face, when a known car passed us by. This year taught us the importance of relationships for the sake of our soul — not for the sake of show on Facebook.
Happy Holidays, everyone!
Originally published December 2020.
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