This year I was reflecting on how my holiday was, & thinking of all the wonderful, beautifully wrapped presents we exchanged in my family & how each year, we promise each other that it will be a “small Christmas”, but somehow that just doesn’t seem to happen. Not that we are extravagant by any means, but the love certainly overflows in my house. I was taking stock of everything this morning as we helped to load my brother Matt & his girlfriend Candice into his car & send them on their way home & I realized that THAT was the real gift. Not the presents they gave me, but the sentiments behind them & having my family all together.     Yesterday as a family we walked across the street to give the twins (who are wonderfully 2 years old) their Christmas presents from us, & bless their hearts, they were more excited about the tissue paper at first than the books that were in the actual gift bags! They don’t know what a “good present” is, or isn’t. It’s all “good stuff” to them. 

     I was trying to think back to what the best Christmas present I ever got was and it didn’t take me very long to come up with it. My dear friend Jenna and I both lived in Potsdam last year and after spending money neither of us had on gifts the year before, we came up with the idea of writing letters to each other. She wrote me a poem. It was truly the most beautiful, meaningful thing anyone has ever written for me or about me. Oh how I cried when I read it. I hope she won’t mind if I post it’s contents now…

    That is a true gift. To have someone think of you in such an incredibly high, and esteemed manner…there is no greater compliment or gift. It’s just “good stuff”.