Spirit of Christmas

Presents for the kids, gift cards for the adults

There are still Christmas cards to mail and presents to shop for, but again we took a scheduled break to help out strangers (your humble blogger did so grumpily at the start of the morning and is not a good role-model).

After wrapping and boxing the gifts for the families assigned by Samaritan House, I called to schedule the drop-offs in San Mateo. The mothers and I (the mothers are always the contact persons) played telephone tag, made worse by the fact that their English is barely better than my Spanish. (My sour mood was also due to my Spanish-speaking friend begging off at the last minute.)

At the first appointment the lady of the house could not hide her joy at the sight of presents for her children. The delivery man's spirits improved, another confirmation of the truism that the giver receives greater rewards than the giftee.

When I delivered the next box, the lady asked me to wait. Her six-year-old son ran to their upstairs apartment and came back holding a small bag of hand-made items. Thank you. "You're welcome," he said.

I'm keeping the bag where I drink coffee every morning as a reminder not to let the busy-ness of life get in the way of the spirit of Christmas, a spirit that is alive and well in a little boy in San Mateo.