It’s here, it’s Christmas, and in a few hours I’m going to be joining my adopted family for the seventh time for dinner on this most wonderful of holidays. My friend Jill has a large extended family and a number of years ago, they opened up their hearts to invite me to join them for the three Christmas events they enjoy each year. Since then, this 10-day excursion has become one of the most beloved of my annual events. My parents passed many years ago, and my brother died this past year, so the Smith family has become where my heart is for the holidays.
The Smiths open presents on Christmas Eve, so last night we all gathered around the fireplace while the youngest boys struggled to help pile the gifts at the appropriate feet. We start with the youngest first and end with Jill’s mother. This takes several hours, as we all love to ooooh and aaaaaah over what the children get, and take our time exclaiming over our goodies.
When it was my turn, I had a card from Jill’s 93-year-old mother, Deen, which I opened first. Deen can never figure out what to give me, but this time she nailed it. It wasn’t the package of list pads. It was what she wrote in her card. In her spidery hand, she expressed her pleasure at having me join the family every Christmas, and how she saw me as her second “daughter.” Those words were WordFood of the first order, more nutritious that the luscious dinner Jill always serves, more important to me than what we will eat tonight. They cemented my place in this beloved group of people. Nothing could have touched me more deeply. And no gift could have meant more.
As we all sit down to Christmas dinner, it will be food for our bodies and also for our souls, that we share stories and laughter with those we love. And we send prayers for those who have left us this year. For those who are with us, it’s time we give them the gift of words that transform, as Deen gave me. No physical gift can uplift as much as kind words, that enfold and include, and remind us that we are loved. That is what the spirit of Christmas is truly all about.