To this day I still think back about the Christmas I thought was ruined. It was a Sunday afternoon in late November when my mother gathered the family together and made the startling announcement.  

                       “I think we should give our Christmas away to a family who is in need.”

 As a child our family had always been blessed with what I would call a typical Christmas – presents from Santa, mom and dad, and my brothers and sisters, seven of us. It wasn’t until later in life that I would come to know that not all families were as fortunate. So, when mom made this announcement I was shocked. What – no Christmas for us, I thought. My two sisters and two older brothers all nodded in agreement, what was I to do, be the lone voice and stand up for my right to receive gifts? I nodded too but inside I was miserable. 

 My mother started the process by calling the local newspaper to see if they had received any information about families who could not afford any type of Christmas. The local paper had for years provided these names to those who could help. We received a name of a family and as luck would have it they only lived five blocks from us. After visiting with the family, my mother and father gathered us again to devise a plan. I learned that the father of this young family (a father, mother, and two young children) had been out of work for a year, and they were literally just getting by on the small amount unemployment sent. Assignments were given, the sizes of the two girls, the clothes they needed, what type of toys they had asked for, and what we could give the mother and father. They money that we would have spent on each other was now going to be used on this family. All pitched in with great excitement, except for me I’m sorry to admit, knowing how excited the family would be (especially the two little girls who knew nothing of our help) to have a “typical” Christmas.

 The closer Christmas came the more miserable I became inside; however, I did put on a good face. On the morning of December 24 we took over the presents we had bought and made for the entire family. The parents had mentioned that we only needed to help with the two little girls and that they did not need anything, but my mother was having none of that – all of them received gifts. That evening we had our traditional Christmas Eve reading of the Christmas story from the bible with song mingled in. After some warm apple cider and playing a few games I went to bed thinking how stupid tomorrow morning was going to be. We had a Christmas tree but there were no presents under it. “What are we going to do in the morning” I thought? Sit around and look at each other. With those thoughts I fell asleep.

 Little did I know what awaited me that morning. As I got out of bed and gathered with the rest of the family I noticed there was a feeling in our home I’ll never forget. A feeling of warmth, love, and gratitude was present and all were affected by it, especially me. We played games as a family, sang Christmas songs, and just enjoyed each others company. It was one of the best Christmases I’ve ever had. Thanks mom for teaching a son that Christmas – the true meaning of Christmas – is about the heart not in material things.