A Christmas to Remember

Yesterday, I had one the best Christmases in my whole life, and it had nothing to do with the gifts I received. Actually, what I got was mostly very practical stuff, primarily designed for Christmas projects we have yet to complete, and a "new" owner's manual for my 29-year-old car.

A while back, Natasha, bless her heart, came up with the idea that we should organize a way to feed the homeless on Christmas day. We all thought it was a great idea, so we went to our club and presented the idea to them. They all liked the idea, too, and we began the effort. I put out the word around our local area, my wife collected food donations and made a lot of purchases with some donated money, and we went down to the Walk of Honor in downtown Santa Ana where a fair number of Orange County's homeless "live."

We managed to feed at least a hundred people, with drinks, turkey rollers, crackers, snacks and three large pumpkin pies, plus chicken-pasta dishes, hummus and some organic food that another couple (who happen to be in the organic food industry) brought in response to the word I'd sent out. It was incredible. We met so many nice people over the hour and a half or so that we were there, and there were other donors who came in their own trucks and SUVs with more food than even we could have imagined. I don't know how to describe how I felt being able to do this for others who are less well off than me, and I may be getting closer than I ever imagined to being in their place.

After we cleaned up and took home the materials we had left (no food - all gone :-), we put together some more gifts and went out to party with some dear friends in San Bernardino County, where they had an amazing spread of food laid out for their party. Of course, I stuffed myself, and we all had a grand time with people we had never met before but with whom we all shared a number of common interests. Natasha started playing piano, and our host's brother turned out to be quite an accompanist as well - he played piano while Natasha's angelic voice treated us all to a wonderful concert. Alex pitched in with some guitar play and we all sang several non-Christmas songs, to the pleasure and delight of all.

Several of the other guests were surprised that my kids would like songs by the Beatles, CCR, Don McLean and other, more classic rock and roll music, but considering their parents, that's not too big of a stretch. I am constantly amazed at how wide a range of music they like. I love the Moody Blues, but then I stopped listening to them for a number of years, not terribly impressed with their later music. Then, Natasha happened upon my CDs, fell in love with them and re-introduced me to their later good music and some earlier works I'd never considered all that great on my own.

The bottom line is that we had a truly special, very blessed Christmas, and I wanted to share that with you. It has nothing to do with writing or my books, per se, but so what?

I wish you all a happy and prosperous remainder of this holiday season and on into and through the next year. May divine blessings infuse your life with more good than you know how to handle, and may you learn how to handle that good with grace.