A week from today many will be starting their Christmas season planning. Black Friday sunrise will be met with ambitious shoppers hitting the malls until sundown. They return home exhausted after hours of bargain hunting and rest a few days to hit the keyboard for the Cyber Monday bargains. The most wonderful time of the year where we run from one place to the next for the perfect gift from me to you.
Sadly three weeks ago the Northeast received a horrible gift from mother nature. We were warned from weather forecasters to brace ourselves for a bad one and they did not disappoint with their technology because a bad one it was. Many lost everything they owned and now must start from scratch to rebuild their lives.
I witnessed communities rearrange letters FROM the bottom of their hearts and FORMed together to donate gifts to the residents of the hard hit areas. Truckloads of items from people from all incomes and situations lined up and headed out to bring some peace to a horrible situation. Caring strangers bringing gifts from me to you and asking for nothing in return.
A message from above that life is incredibly fragile and in the blink of an eye we can go from being on top of the world to hitting rock bottom in seconds.
So my question, Does the perfect gift really need all that rushing around afterall? Does the perfect gift have to cost lots of money?
As I write and think about past holiday memories its not the gifts that come to mind. I am smiling at thoughts of people and laughter and our yearly tradition of the family going to Nannys every Christmas morning for breakfast and being together. I smiled at memories of mom taking out the good dishes and the smells of stuffing cooking in turkeys. After dinner we would sit around the crowded kitchen table playing michigan rummy with pennies in plastic cups laughing and when the game was completed we returned every cent to the glass penny jar. It was all for fun not to be winners!! i remember driving down south and not telling my nieces and nephew we were coming and rang the bell and the surprise on their faces when they saw us was priceless. My nephew when young saying grace, raising his wine glass filled with cola saying Im thankful for my Aunt Donna. Just last year after a visit downsouth I was lying in bed with my godniece being silly and telling funny stories and through her hysterical laughter hearing her say how did you get so funny, can you teach me???
I enjoy wrapping pape,r boxes and bows too. I love handing my Kris Kringle pick my gift and hope they love it. Decorating and the anticipation of the holiday is a wonderful feeling for all of us. Yes, it is a magical time of year!! I cannot wait to start trimming the tree and making 2012 memories.
The bottom line for me however is at the end of the day, it is just stuff. Stuff eventually gets worn out, broken, thrown away, washed up, lost and eventually in some cases completely forgotten about.
This holiday season my wish is to focus on the love around me. I want to embrace and find the joy more in the people and the company and not how many boxes are being handed to me. I want to continue to reach out and give to those in need of love and support.
My wish list for my family to me is kindness, love, hugs, kisses. Im not worried about fancy jewelry, or the latest gadget. Every person wants to feel loved and not forgotten. From the bottom of our hearts let us not forget the true meaning of life and holidays. For me it is not the size of the box and the ribbon and bows as much as the love and memories and the way we treat each other all year long.
To quote William A Ward.....God gave us 86,400 seconds today.
Have you used one of them to say thank you?
Writing this it occured to me there are many ways to use the word FROM. For me, my favorite is FROM this moment on and as long as I live I am thankful for all my family, friends and loved ones. You truly are my gifts. If I was given the choice of fancy gifts or all of you I would definately choose each of you because without you I would just be a sad, lonely person with nice stuff. Stuff goes away. Sadly people leave as well but LOVE remains forever in hearts.
FROM my home to yours I wish you all a blessed Thanksgiving holiday filled with loving memories.
Sadly three weeks ago the Northeast received a horrible gift from mother nature. We were warned from weather forecasters to brace ourselves for a bad one and they did not disappoint with their technology because a bad one it was. Many lost everything they owned and now must start from scratch to rebuild their lives.
I witnessed communities rearrange letters FROM the bottom of their hearts and FORMed together to donate gifts to the residents of the hard hit areas. Truckloads of items from people from all incomes and situations lined up and headed out to bring some peace to a horrible situation. Caring strangers bringing gifts from me to you and asking for nothing in return.
A message from above that life is incredibly fragile and in the blink of an eye we can go from being on top of the world to hitting rock bottom in seconds.
So my question, Does the perfect gift really need all that rushing around afterall? Does the perfect gift have to cost lots of money?
As I write and think about past holiday memories its not the gifts that come to mind. I am smiling at thoughts of people and laughter and our yearly tradition of the family going to Nannys every Christmas morning for breakfast and being together. I smiled at memories of mom taking out the good dishes and the smells of stuffing cooking in turkeys. After dinner we would sit around the crowded kitchen table playing michigan rummy with pennies in plastic cups laughing and when the game was completed we returned every cent to the glass penny jar. It was all for fun not to be winners!! i remember driving down south and not telling my nieces and nephew we were coming and rang the bell and the surprise on their faces when they saw us was priceless. My nephew when young saying grace, raising his wine glass filled with cola saying Im thankful for my Aunt Donna. Just last year after a visit downsouth I was lying in bed with my godniece being silly and telling funny stories and through her hysterical laughter hearing her say how did you get so funny, can you teach me???
I enjoy wrapping pape,r boxes and bows too. I love handing my Kris Kringle pick my gift and hope they love it. Decorating and the anticipation of the holiday is a wonderful feeling for all of us. Yes, it is a magical time of year!! I cannot wait to start trimming the tree and making 2012 memories.
The bottom line for me however is at the end of the day, it is just stuff. Stuff eventually gets worn out, broken, thrown away, washed up, lost and eventually in some cases completely forgotten about.
This holiday season my wish is to focus on the love around me. I want to embrace and find the joy more in the people and the company and not how many boxes are being handed to me. I want to continue to reach out and give to those in need of love and support.
My wish list for my family to me is kindness, love, hugs, kisses. Im not worried about fancy jewelry, or the latest gadget. Every person wants to feel loved and not forgotten. From the bottom of our hearts let us not forget the true meaning of life and holidays. For me it is not the size of the box and the ribbon and bows as much as the love and memories and the way we treat each other all year long.
To quote William A Ward.....God gave us 86,400 seconds today.
Have you used one of them to say thank you?
Writing this it occured to me there are many ways to use the word FROM. For me, my favorite is FROM this moment on and as long as I live I am thankful for all my family, friends and loved ones. You truly are my gifts. If I was given the choice of fancy gifts or all of you I would definately choose each of you because without you I would just be a sad, lonely person with nice stuff. Stuff goes away. Sadly people leave as well but LOVE remains forever in hearts.
FROM my home to yours I wish you all a blessed Thanksgiving holiday filled with loving memories.
RSS Feed
