Never Stop Believing!
The holidays have always been a special time in my life. As a small child I have memories of the aroma of fresh pine, silver tinsel sticking to everything, presents under the tree and avoiding my father when he was drinking. Fast forward to the first Christmas after I moved out when I was 18. I had no money, my family was still angry with me for moving out and it didn’t feel like the holidays at all. That Christmas I couldn’t afford gifts but I still wanted to give my family something from the heart so I wrote a Christmas prayer, put it in a small card and sent it off.
Thankfully a great deal has changed since then but that time of strained relationships began a tradition that lives on today. The prayer has transformed into more of a message but my family still looks forward to seeing a new one each year. My mother used to say that she could always tell what had transpired the previous year by the tone of my message. I suppose some things don’t change. This is the message I included in my cards for 2009.
2009 has been a year filled with life lessons.
Some were reminders of values learned long ago
and some were new to this generation.
We were encouraged to do more with less
and embrace Life’s simple pleasures.
Unconditional love taught us
that it’s more about the who and why
than the what and where
and it became clear that those in need
have no particular zip code.
In the coming year
may we all celebrate our haves
rather than begrudge our have nots
and may joy and contentment
occupy a part of each day.
Have a blessed holiday season!
