For me, Christmas is a time of both sadness and great joy. I am saddened that we do not have all the time we want to spend with our family and friends....I'm saddened that for some reason, some companies decide the time to lay people off from work is at Christmas.
A few years ago, our friends at Christ United Methodist Church bought some toys for us to give to some neighbors who were having a hard time. As it turns out, our neighbors had moved away sometime back and we did not have anyone who needed the toys. We called the local fire department and the dispatcher said that they had already made their deliveries for Christmas....but she said that she had just learned of a family in Cordova who has 5 small children and the father had recently lost his job. They had a baby 3 weeks old.
We left the toys and the lady dispatcher said that she would personally take the toys to the family. Jilda and I had another errand to run and as we drove, we decided to drive back by and give a little money to the family as well. I had a hundred dollar bill that I have carried in my billfold for years..... I saved it just in case we ran into hard times......as it turned out, we did run into hard times.... but they were hard times for someone else. Jilda ran in and gave the dispatcher the money and turned to walk out and the lady "asked who are you, please give me your address so that they can send you a thank you." Jilda told her to tell the people Merry Christmas. She said the lady's eyes filled with tears....which put tears in our eyes.
There will always be sad stories which are made more so by the fact that they happen at Christmas, but there are also happy stories. We ran by my niece's house yesterday and her little boy was so excited, he was beside himself. He was showing me some things in his room and he slyly asked....do you know who comes tonight? I said, yes of course, the tooth fairy...He said "well NOOOO". The Easter Bunny? "Did you get bumped on the head?" he asked. He finally said SANTA!!! I said Oh, I remember now. He looked as though he felt sorry for me. The look on his face was remarkable.
This year I am happy and thank the Good Lord for all we have, especially those things we take for granted. I am joyful for all our family and friends.
Merry Christmas
Rick & Jilda
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