Christmas Traditions: Giving

My 2nd Christmas at 15 months old and still no hair.

In times of plenty my parents would share the wealth.  Before I knew about charity organization advertising for presents to give toys too, my Mom would organize a Christmas for a less fortunate family.  She would ask at church about a family in need and find out the particulars i.e. ages, sex, how many children and so on. 

Then came the shopping.  She would ask my opinion on gifts.  I would help by wrapping the square boxes, don't ask me to do the irregular shapes.  I remember her baking bread and muffins and getting jars of jam ready.  We would all pile into the car and try to quietly help heap the boxes of stuff on the porch without getting caught.

I clearly remember my father calling the family after we came home, pretending to be Santa Claus he told the family to check on the porch for their early Christmas delivery.  It was so exciting.  It was so fun.  I loved hearing the screams of pleasure and excitement coming through the phone. Because my parents were willing to share, somebody I did not know or would ever have anything to do with, were very happy.

Unfortunately we did not do the Christmas for another family every year, but we did it enough for the tradition to stick in my head.  Once we moved to Simi Valley and my parents had to worry about a mortgage the elaborate giving stopped, but when a family we really like was in trouble because the father had lost his job before Christmas, my mother sprang into action.

She was able to organise helping with another family, so the burden wasn't only on us.  It was like I remembered, buying the gifts for the family and wrapping, but this time I knew them, which added another layer to the giving.

As we grew older we would ding-dong ditch the gifts and now that I think of it, we did not do big Christmas's for families, but we would ding-dong ditch our favorite Santa cookies every year, which became our new form of the giving tradition.

This certain year we organized our gifts and a Christmas dinner into boxes.  That rush of adrenaline and excitement building as we delivered the items.  This time was a ding-dong ditch and I was to do it.  I was pretty fast for a fat girl.  I picked a spot to hide and rang the door bell.  The family was home and from my secret place I watched the mother's head shake back and forth in disbelief as the two gathered the haul into the house. 

I liked the anonymity of the giving.  My offering wasn't judged on how I looked or what I gave.  It was taken as an offering of giving, of love and of happiness.  The mother was solemn and a little grave to see what others had done for her children and that was true emotion.  That emotion was not displayed because I came to the house for my congratulation or because I wanted praise.  It was how she really felt in that small moment of time.  That is what I live for.  That is what I want to feel and to experience, but I have come to realize that profound emotion in another is a rare occurrence.  They have to be willing to let their guard down and I know for me that is near impossible, so the emotion I wish to feel is absent.

I did attempt my own continuation of this tradition.  I was in charge of the Young Women in my church ages 14 -16 years old.  I had to think of something to do together every week and I decided to give a family a Christmas tree fully decorated.  It filled up a month and a half of activity nights.  I found unfinished ornament and I had the girls find designs they wanted to try.  Every week we would work on the ornaments for the tree, some were very creative.  Finally on the last night only two girls showed up to deliver the tree and gifts, but it didn't matter.  I began feeling that old rush as we prepared the tree by putting the lights on and packaging the handmade ornaments into nice boxes.  For a nominal amount of money, but lots of work we had a very dramatic gift prepared.

I was in charge this time and I knew I could not run as well, but it didn't matter the house had a locked fence around it!  We stood on the sidewalk considering and conferring.  We couldn't leave it all on the sidewalk anybody could take it.  One of the girls noticed the ornament boxes fit under the gate, so we pushed those under.  Right as we ran out of ideas, a truck pulled up.  We scrambled afraid it was someone from the family.  One of my girls was brave and talk to the man who excited the car and found out he was a friend.  He agreed to open the gate for us, but the family must have been expecting him because we heard the front door begin to open.  The girls should have been in Track and field they took off like jack rabbits.  I lost my charges, but I figured we could meet back at my car.  Sure enough my rag tag group slowly came out of the shadows, almost getting caught was quite an added thrill. 

We drove back to the church meeting house on a high.  It provided a bonding experience for all of us.

I am impressed with the mall trees hung with large tags with the stats of a child in need and I am very grateful for "Toys for Tots" and other such organizations.  I have been lucky enough not to feel the pain of no holiday until I was older, but dumping a pile of toys into a collection box does not hold a candle to those ding-dong ditching trips.

I went without my family and Christmas Traditions for a period of time, twice on my Mission and then again when I lived away from my parents.  I did not know that the traditions we shared as a family made the Holiday time different from the rest of the year.  For the short time leading up to Christmas our priorities change.  The daily grind can be lifted.

For me it is not the material possessions that make the Holidays come alive, which I know makes it difficult for others to give to me, it is actually "the thought that counts".  Isn't that funny.  Picking my gifts, I need a hint with what they want, but I like to think about the kids and how they have changed. 

I want to close this collection of Christmas post with my thoughts on Christ.  Yes, he was born at a different time of year and Yes, many of the traditions that are celebrated originate from pagan, non-christen roots, but I am impressed with how the early Christens were able to celebrate their own beliefs within a hostile culture.  They used the same symbols as their counter-parts, but they changed the meanings to worship Christ.

I have been listening to a Christmas radio station with a wide mix of styles.  "White Christmas" and "Winter Wonderland" are well represented, but the station has been playing many classic hymns by solo artist and choirs.  I have felt my heart swell more than once as I listen to the words.  I am grateful that there is truth in these songs.  I am glad that every child knows the words to "Silent Night" and though the meaning might not break through to the mind.  I know the words pierce the heart when a child sings the words "Holy infant so tender and mild."  I believe and know that Christ is "the word of the Father, now in flesh appearing".

I miss the relationship I had with Christ earlier in my life.  I realize that Christmas seems to have become more of a secular holiday bent on material possessions, but I still see and feel moments of worship tucked into the tradition of our hearts.

I know that not everyone celebrates Christmas.  I do and I hope that each person can honor what their season of giving is about.  For me it is Christ.

Try to give anonymously. Give just to give. Put some effort, thought and a tiny bit of sacrifice into your Christmas. It changes your heart, if only for a small moment.

Family, Love and Sacrifice can never be taken away from our Christmas forever.