Christmas

The Gift of Your Time

Backstory

After such a long period when the face-to-face time was limited or impossible, everyone is ready for companionship. Families are renting homes to bring loved ones together. Small groups are gathering in destinations. Your gifts this year could be based on creating memories by time spent together.

The Gift of Your Time

Christmas is such a magical time of year. We hear Christmas carols unsung for eleven months, and yet we remember each word and sing along. The days seem filled with fairy dust and sparkles, twinkling lights and happy thoughts.

Whether the season has spiritual significance for you or is a reason for giving and remembering those who are dear. it’s a time to give thanks and to treasure friends and family and remember what’s important.

As you match your wallet with your gift list, remember the most valuable gift you can give may be the gift of your time. There are people in your life who would treasure that more than anything.

More time with aging relatives, listening to their stories, one more time . . . Spending social time with friends you depend on, not just calling when you need them . . . Sharing time with the kids, or your spouse or partner.

Does it take an expensive gift to show you care? Don’t be fooled by the commercials for cars and diamonds. Spending time watching a dance recital or ball game, listening to a newly written poem or planning a date night, could be far more treasured – and hardly make a dent in your budget at all.

So this Christmas please . . . stop, relax, smell the poinsettias and watch for fairy dust or at least snowflakes. Merry Christmas.

P.S. Who do you love and not see, day in and day out? How can you give them the gift of your time? Do a zoom visit. Make a face call. Place a good, ole-fashioned telephone call. Send hand-written Christmas cards this year, even if you had stopped that tradition. Figure out how to spread the gift of your time even further this year. It’s needed.

[Show #515]

Best Christmas Gift

Back Story

You probably start Christmas shopping in October, like my friend Susan. Her gifts are wrapped, labeled and stored long before most people. She is really good at selecting just the right present. Wouldn’t it feel good if something you choose for someone this year wound up being the best gift they ever had?

Best Christmas Gift

What’s the BEST Christmas gift you ever received? Think about it. What pops right into your mind? I’ll bet it’s not the most expensive gift you ever got. It’s probably the one most lovingly selected by someone who knows you very, very well and contributes regularly to your happiness.

Sometimes, a gift provides an unexpected pleasure. I remember receiving a green imitation leather shoulder bag from an aunt. It was full lady size, even though my age had not yet hit double digits.

To me, it was the symbol of being grown up. And obviously my aunt had RECOGNIZED how grown up I was, to give me such a sophisticated – and big – purse. I dragged half of my childhood treasures around with me in that purse, so everyone could see this recognition of my new, grown up stature in life.

I have to wonder whether my aunt ever had even an inkling of how important that gift was to me, or why. Probably not. I now wish I had told her about it, somewhere along the way.

Think about your favorite gift and what it symbolized for you. If you still can, call the person who gave it to you and tell them. What a delight it would be to hear from you with that kind of thanks. This is the season for it.

Enjoy the holidays and each other.

P.S. Books are always a welcome gift. Sometimes they open new doors, inspire or at very least, entertain. The Christmas book I wrote a couple of years ago is chuck full of Consider This stories from Christmases over the last 15 years. It can be purchased on Amazon. This link will take you right to it – Christmas Joy, Love, and Wonder by Annette Petrick

[Show #600]

Christmas Cards

Backstory

Christmas Cards

Do you send Christmas cards? Lots of people no longer do. It may not be in their budget . . . or they don’t have the time . . . or they have not kept up with the physical addresses of friends and family, because they stay in touch on Facebook or through email.

Personally, I still send greeting cards. If you receive one from me, know it was selected especially for you. I don’t buy a box of all the same cards and just dole them out. Families with children get a card with Santa or a snowman or a happy feel. Mature adults may get a vintage scene. Religious recipients will probably bear a nativity scene. Cards to my Jewish or Arabic friends will wish happy holidays rather than Merry Christmas.

I begin the card-sending process, the day after Thanksgiving, making sure my list is up to date, selecting each card for each person or family, and writing a personal message in each.

For some folks, there may be one of those Christmas letters that some folks dread and others cherish. They only go to those I think would want to know what the last 365 days have brought to my life. My letters will be heavy on the good news, light on the stuff that sucks. If you receive one, I hope you enjoy it or at least put up with me connecting the dots of the last year.

Merry Christmas.

[Show #519]

My Christmas Wish for You

Backstory

Black Friday is history. Holiday happy time begins. And somehow, time starts to disappear. There are so many things to do, places to go and promises to keep. The lists get longer and the schedules bunch up.

Try something new, this year. Delete some stuff from your list. Leave time to take in the miracles that occur during this special time. They’re all around you. You might even create some of your own.

To set the tone, here are a few ideas and some wishes.

My Christmas Wish for You

As the Christmas holiday season approaches, I have a special wish for you.

May your days be spent making others feel good and may you receive in kind.
May you have a special Christmas project that puts to work one of the many gifts that have been conferred on you.
What is it that you do well? Knit . . . sew . . . play the piano or the tuba . . . fix things . . . raise money . . . talk comfortably with strangers . . . share your ideas through words, spoken or written?
Whatever your gift in life, may you have the opportunity to use it, to make the world a better place – in a large way, or a very small one. It all counts.
When you get home from shopping, may you have a warm welcome – from family, spouse, partner or a furry friend who loves you.
May you have an invitation to share a Christmas meal with others. And if you have no one, may you volunteer to work the holiday so someone with a family can spend the day home with them.
May you spread your love through your smile and your kindness and patience during this hectic Christmas season.
And when all is said and done, may you feel the true spirit of Christmas – peace on earth, or at least in your personal world, good will to men, and women too.

Merry Christmas

P.S. My mom, my husband and I attended Christmas Mass at the cathedral in Washington, DC. As we were walking back to the car, we passed the church hall where hundreds of Christmas dinners were being served – and they were short of volunteer staffers. We looked at each other and wordlessly decided – our Christmas dinner at home would have to wait.

Hubby and I spent the entire afternoon serving, cleaning up and meeting some wonderful people who were not spending Christmas day alone, thanks to this event. Mom? She became the instantaneous official hostess, visiting every table where she shared good cheer and smiles. What a happy Christmas we had.

[Show #518]

When Christmas Is Sad

Backstory

On my sad Christmases, I would write. The keys on my computer would fly. It might be spilling all my sorrow, putting my anger into words, shouting out the injustice of my circumstance. Others shed tears to cope. Some go away, avoiding the setting of their last happy holiday. Others return to that special place. Some folks are lost, seeking a means to calm the hurt.

Click to listen or follow below to read.

Christmas Sad – #123

There are times when Christmas is sad. You may be missing a loved one, or you may be far away from home, on your own, or you may be the one left behind with your loved one serving of a battlefield halfway across the world. Sometimes it helps to remember not only this sad Christmas, but all of them, stacked up in a row from childhood until now.

Considering all of the holidays in our lifetime, some are bound to be better than others. But, ah, the good ones were really fine. Think about them and you’ll simply HAVE to smile as you remember words and actions, laughter and love.

Take out photos and relive those times, so warm and loving. No one can take those precious memories away. They may be the greatest gift we were given. Once a good thing happens, it can always be conjured up again in your mind. It can always make you smile as you remember, relive and enjoy it all over again.

So this Christmas, whether it’s one of your best or not, may you have the comfort of memories of Christmases past and may you smile and enjoy them all over again.

Wishing you a Christmas with a peaceful heart.

P.S.

It’s so easy to become sour when holiday plans go awry or you are sad. You want to blame someone or take it out on somebody. Instead, do something for someone else – or a lot of elses.

Take over someone’s job so they can be home with family on Christmas.
Serve at a soup kitchen – dressed up nicely for the holiday.
Sit with someone who is ill, so the caregiver can be with family.

As the holidays rush upon us, don’t become the Grinch who stole Christmas. Help bring peace on earth to your little corner of the world, no matter what.

[Show #123]

Christmas Past Revisited

Updated December 22, 2019.

Backstory

We are story tellers. When our family gets together, there always has to be time for folks to tell their stories. Christmas tales are particularly popular. So many warm and happy events – and those that evoke laughter all around.

Thinking how much we enjoy them, I thought I’d tell you about them.

Click to listen or follow below to read.

Christmas Past Revisited – #511

One of my favorite rights of Christmas is when the family gets together and remembers Christmases past. We hear from each person; whether you’ve had 8 Christmases to date or 80. There is a willing audience to hear you tell about it.

Some eyes glaze over; others brim with tears as we remember loved ones with whom we used to share holiday meals and traditions and gifts and love. You can practically feel the spirit of those who used to share our lives and are here no more. How precious to bring them back to life in our memories and have them share a few holiday moments with us.

The younger family members will hear of how things used to be. The older members will probably recall family traditions or foods. We may be able to congratulate those who still carry out the traditions or lament that they exist no more.

In addition to telling our favorite Christmas stories, each person gets to tell what they are thankful for. The expected treasures are mentioned – love of the family, health, making it through another year without a major tragedy. But what is often heartwarming is to hear how grateful people are for something small done for them that really mattered: a suggestion that helped solve a problem; a contact that resulted in beneficial networking, news about people who needed help, so we could provide it.

It’s all part of the family Christmas telling tradition.

P.S.

As our family of locals shrinks and there are less oldsters and more little children, the story telling changes a bit. As we go around the table, we may hear more about a new video game, the latest posts on Instagram or delight over Taylor Swift’s latest lost love. These stories need to be cherished and valued as much as those about walking to and from school two miles, uphill each way. Throw in some microwave recipes and you modernize Christmas story telling.

[Show #511]