Have you ever noticed that it is usually the little things
you do for people that are often the most appreciated? You
can buy someone a very expensive gift for Christmas or on a birthday, but
if you give some small token of love or gratitude completely out of the
blue at any time for no reason at all, the person acts as if it is the
nicest thing you have ever done.
Christmas is coming soon. This is traditionally a time for showing
people in our life just how much we care for them...not with the size or
cost of a gift, but just with any type of gift or card...even the gift of
our presence for a nice visit during the holidays.
I
heard a story the other day about a couple named Kathy and Don, who moved
into a new house during the summer. Kathy had the pleasure during the next
several months to meet a few of her neighbours who seemed to be extremely
nice people. For Christmas, she thought she would do something special for
each of the neighbours that she knew. She sat down and counted. There were
nine neighbours whom she knew by name or spoke with often when out in her
yard. She also knew which houses they lived in.
Kathy
then decided to add one more person to her list for a total of ten. The
tenth person was a lady who lived down the street. She met the lady every
morning walking to work as she drove down the street. She always managed a
contagious smile and a hearty wave. She had no idea what the mystery
lady’s name was nor was Kathy even sure which house she lived in.
Kathy’s
gift idea was to make small fruit baskets and leave them on each of her
neighbour’s front porches or door steps on Christmas Eve for them to
find, either that night or the next morning. She signed the cards:
“Happy Holidays from
5104
Northumberland Road
.”
Kathy
saved the friendly lady for last, since she was still not exactly sure
where she lived. Finally, Kathy decided upon a house down about where she
met her each morning and felt relatively sure that it was hers. Her
neighbours really appreciated the baskets and would thank Kathy as they
saw her in the yard or they would call, and a couple even came by to thank
her in person.
One
morning on her way to work, Kathy noticed a small note inside her mailbox.
It was addressed simply, Resident,
5104
Northumberland Road
. She
opened the envelope and took out a Thank You card. She opened the card and
read the message, which really caught her by surprise.
The
card said, “Thank you for the lovely fruit basket you left on the porch
of Richard Kelly. It was very thoughtful. Richard Kelly passed away on
January 19, but he never stopped talking about how nice it was that
someone remembered him in his time of illness. He really appreciated
it.”
Kathy was sincerely stunned. She had no idea who Richard Kelly was
or that he had been gravely ill. She had left that nice lady’s basket on
Mr. Kelly’s porch by accident. Kathy firmly believed that Richard Kelly
was meant to have that basket and the Lord knew that he only had less than
a month to live. She was sorry that the nice lady did not get to receive a
fruit basket from her that Christmas, but was sure that she would
understand if she ever found out what had happened.
Kathy
felt blessed to have helped Richard Kelly’s last days be more cheerful.
It further reinforced her belief that there are never any mistakes in
life...just detours, shortcuts, and small excursions along the way.
This
Christmas, besides making a shopping list for the members of your family
and your close friends, make another list of the acquaintances you know
less well and see if there isn’t something you can do to make their
holidays just a little bit brighter. See if there are any people on the
second list who may be having some difficulties in their life and who
could use some cheering up. Just think how you feel when you receive a
gift or a card from someone unexpected.
It is not so much the gift that counts as it is knowing that the
person cares about you. Even a card with a handwritten note may mean the
world to someone who needs to know that someone is thinking about them.
When you’ve given out all of your Christmas gifts, you may be surprised
at which list puts you in the true Christmas Spirit.
Have a good week!
