The REAL spirit of Christmas

Fule for Thought

 

My daughter absolutely loves Christmas. To her, it should last a lot longer than it does. Being a struggling University student, she’s even taken to making presents for the people in her life. I need to find that sense of Christmas spirit, as I look upon lights and tree decoration as chores. Sometimes, it’s a surprising incident that can bring you back to the fun of Christmas. On Friday, I got a text from Breanne that threw me for a curve, and made me smile. Here’s what she texted: “So I literally just realized ‘I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus’ isn’t talking about a dad cheating! The dad IS the Santa!”

I was stunned … I texted back, “are you for REAL?”  

How could she think that a happy, little Christmas song could be about a mom cheating on her husband? Where did I go wrong? I don’t remember discussing this song … so for all these years, she thought it was a “cheating” song … that’s sad, and funny!

The text got me thinking more about Christmas, and I wondered what was REALLY important about the season and gift giving. I decided that the best presents don’t have to be big at all. The BEST presents are the ones that came from people who put thought into the gifts.

When I was little, my dad was a coal miner. He’d take my brother and I for rides in his old 1948 Ford F-150. It was a great old truck with a push button starter, and a lot of character. I don’t know how my young son remembered this, but he found a die cast metal model of a 1948 F-150! It was a perfect replica of the truck we had! It brought back a flood of memories! Years later, I still look at it on our mantle, and think about a younger dad with two sons, bouncing along the mine roads. It’s become a little time capsule of my childhood.

My daughter once made me a gift. She knows I love bubble gum. The irony of my love for gum is that I can’t chew it for very long, I always wind up swallowing it! Anyway, she made a bright red bubble gum container using a glass bowl, a flower pot vase, and a ceramic top. She often buys me coloured bubble gum for a surprise, and we try to keep it filled as much as possible. It became another gift, this one homemade, that captured something I love. Looking at it, always reminds me of her, and I appreciate it very much.

My wife Debbie, surprised me with the help of my dad, when he was still living. When my kids were little, VHS tapes were still popular. She borrowed my dad’s old home movies of our family when I was little. She paid to have them converted from 8mm film onto VHS tape. It was a huge surprise then, and I loved the thoughtfulness. To this day, now that both my parents have passed away, and my brother is in Vancouver, I can still latch onto the family that once was, even if it’s just images on a TV screen.

I hope that Christmas is good to you all. Hopefully, you’ll get what you want. Maybe you’ll even get a present that REALLY “hits home” and carries thought and sentiment. 

Those are the best presents to receive AND give. If you can capture someone’s heart and mind, through a gift, that is amazing. If you do have a favourite gift from someone in the past, maybe let them know it still means a lot to you.

Merry Christmas to all of you (whoever ARE my 32 readers!). I hope you all have a safe and happy holiday time with family and friends. I’ll leave you with an old Irish quote I once found: “may you live as long as you like, and like what you have, as long as you live.”

(“Fule for Thought” is a slice of life humourous column that appears in the Strathmore Times, written by long-time resident, town councillor, high school teacher, coach, husband and father of two – Pat Fule. If you would like to get in touch with Pat, you can send him an e-mail at Pat.fule@shaw.ca)