The Gift of Love

      ​At this time of year we are all met with the problem of what gift to buy someone.  Usually there is at least one person who is a real chore.  My issue is my husband--impossible to buy for!  One big reason for this is, as we have grown older, we just don't need more stuff.   
      How many of one particular item do we really require to exist?  How much more jewelry do I need?  Even I have to admit that I have enough jewelry!  I have even come to the point of recycling my jewelry to others.  It pains me to have jewelry sitting in a box when I know a pair of earrings I haven't worn in years would be very appreciated by someone else.  Why am I hording those earrings when they would cause a happy smile to flash across someone else's face?
       This Christmas season I seem to be on a sentimental bend.  I have been focused on Christmases of the past rather than what I want for Christmas.  I've been thinking about my parents, my cousin, other family members and how we used to spend Christmas.  The company I keep is far more important to me than a gift I might receive.  A a gift is a token, a symbol of our affection for another.  When we present someone with a box, it represents our love for this person.  It is our gift of love.  Except we really can't wrap love up inside a box. 
     Love is an expression, an emotion, a feeling, a gesture.  Love cannot be purchased.  Love belongs to us and is meant to be shared.  We don't give our love away, really, because we still have love remaining.  Love is shared with someone we care about.  That tangible item in a box is not real love because it can dissolve, rust, tarnish, burn or be stolen.  Love is indestructible.
      Rather than "things", I appreciate companionship, the company of others, because some whom I love are no longer here.  Life is short.  As they say, we are not promised tomorrow.  But we have today, a day in which we can share our love.  This particular Christmas, for some unexplained reason, I really miss my parents and some special relatives.  I would love to hug my mother, hug my father.  I would love to talk with my Uncle Frank, and comb my grandmother's hair.  I miss my family because they are now mostly gone.  I would delight in having the opportunity again to share love with them.  We just can't take those special moments for granted.
      During this Christmas season, please share the gift of love with others.  That gesture costs nothing, but is worth more than any jewelry or kitchen appliance ever could.  Your time is priceless.  Make the most of those special moments together.
                                                                          MERRY CHRISTMAS
       

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