One year, as the Christmas season was approaching, my parents called a family meeting. “We propose that we forgo Christmas presents this year.”
Their suggestion sounded ludicrous to my brothers and me. What insanity would prompt three kids to willingly agree to such a thing? My parents explained that there was a family nearby who was in need of financial help. “We have enough, but this family doesn’t. Do you think our family could do something about that?”
It was a unanimous decision. Instead of getting Christmas presents for each other, we used the money to get gifts and food for the parents and children of a family we’d never met.
On Christmas day, we packed up our car, and delivered everything to the family. My brothers and I brought the wrapped gifts into their home and said hello to the kids. My mom helped the mother put away the food we had brought, while their father shook my dad’s hand in gratitude. On the car ride home, my brothers and I asked if we could do more gift-giving like this again.
We didn’t get any new presents, but that Christmas stands out for me as the most memorable and meaningful for our family.
Their suggestion sounded ludicrous to my brothers and me. What insanity would prompt three kids to willingly agree to such a thing? My parents explained that there was a family nearby who was in need of financial help. “We have enough, but this family doesn’t. Do you think our family could do something about that?”
It was a unanimous decision. Instead of getting Christmas presents for each other, we used the money to get gifts and food for the parents and children of a family we’d never met.
On Christmas day, we packed up our car, and delivered everything to the family. My brothers and I brought the wrapped gifts into their home and said hello to the kids. My mom helped the mother put away the food we had brought, while their father shook my dad’s hand in gratitude. On the car ride home, my brothers and I asked if we could do more gift-giving like this again.
We didn’t get any new presents, but that Christmas stands out for me as the most memorable and meaningful for our family.
RSS Feed
