I know that most of us (myself included) think about little gifts for
the resident Triumph at this time of year, which are, after all, gifts
for ourselves, but I hope that all here consider others in the Christmas
season. Most of us here are reasonably well-off... we have the resources
to pursue a somewhat expensive hobby, one that gives us all kinds of
satisfactions. But, I hope that all will remember that others,
particularly children in the community, are not so fortunate.
I was relating something along those lines to a friend of mine, and
ended up in this fashion:
"The most difficult campaign in town most years is the secret Santa
fund.
Our company, about three years ago, committed to that toy drive only two
days before the ending date, so there was no time for anyone to
contribute. The company put a huge cardboard box out at the gate for
people to donate, but no one knew, because the announcement was far too
late. I was embarrassed by it. The first day, someone had put in four
hand-made hobby horses (the stick type with a wheel at one end and a
horse's head at the other), and that was all that was in the box at the
end of the day--the box seemed very empty. I went out to a couple of
stores in town that night and spent a few hundred dollars on basketballs
and soccer balls and dolls and games and stuffed animals and such, to
fill
up the box the next day.
"That had a lot to do with something my father did when we were in
England. I guess someone had mentioned to him that the kids at a local
orphanage often did without at Christmas, and he took all of us kids
along to the PX, not so much to buy, but to appraise. If we liked
something, he figured the kids at the orphanage would like it, too, and
bought it. Afterwards, he took us along to the orphanage after
Christmas, to visit, and those children treated him like a saint--so
appreciative, so fond of someone who cared that much for their welfare
at Christmas. Even though I was only ten or eleven, even though I
thought at many times that my father was severe and stern, at that time,
in that orphanage, I sensed that he was more sensitive and caring than I
might have imagined. His own childhood, full of deprivation in the
Depression, motivated him to give when he could, and I've never
forgotten that lesson."
Please, if you can, put a little aside for those children in your
communities who will have little or nothing at Christmas.
Cheers, all.
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