I, like many, was having a hard time getting into the spirit of the season this year, mostly because of stress at work and the ever increasing commercialization of the holiday. So I was at a small Christmas party that some friends of mine were putting on and a very good friend of mine was there. This friend has been having quite a hard time over the past few years, going through a bitter divorce, losing the custody battle for his 3 kids, and this year, quitting an extreemly stressful job working for a dying company, and not being able to find another job since. He also is the guy that got me started studying magic and has been influential in shaping my part-time magical career. He was also there for me during a bad time in my life when I really needed a good friend.
So this friend is telling me he was fortunate to have his children over the holiday and how happy he was to have been able to finagle that arrangement. He also confided in me that he has been eating nothing but balogna sandwiches so that his kids would be able to have some good food while they stayed with him and that he would not be able to buy any presents for them (since he barely is making enough doing freelance tech work to pay his rent.)
Everything that was stressing me out suddenly vanished. Here was somone with REAL problems that was just happy to have his kids on Christmas, though he had no money, next to no food, and no presents for his kids.
So I made a decision.
Two days later, I called him up and told him I needed help. He was very quick to offer his help and asked what I needed. After making him promise not to give me flack about this, I told him I had $100 extra and that I needed help buying Christmas presents for his kids. He was stunned. His response was something like, “I… But… Uh… Ok.” So the next day I picked him up and we went out shopping and had a great time. Though he didn’t say one word about it, I could tell from the look in his eyes he was extremely thankful.
So this year went from being an incredibly cruddy holidy to one of the best ones I’ve ever experienced.
Feel free to add your stories of how you made a difference in somone’s life or found the spirit of the season this year.
Not a lot here; I wish I could have done more. This month I donated some winter wear to a local charity serving poor/homeless people in Chicago, the Night Ministry (including a hand-knit pair of mittens), a knit teddy bear to the Mother Bear Project, and some dollars here and there to some of the local charities that set up in the train station downtown during the last couple weeks.
Dragwyr that’s a lovely story. As for me, only donations of food and money to a couple of organizations that help the homeless and HIV-infected. Your story sounds so much more personal and warm, though. Maybe I’ll someday get off my lazy ass and try something similar. Good for you! You’re a good friend, and that’s one of the best things that can be said of anyone.
I tried to be a little more that formally charitable this year; I did the usual donations and sent some presents to the kids of a former collegue, but also sent someone a VCR I wasn’t making use of (which turned out to be really cool, as the recipient discovered an old video with some passed-away relatives she thought she’d lost), gave my favorite waitress a bottle of wine on Christmas Eve, and went to Christmas dinner at a coworker’s house; I guess the later didn’t make a read difference in someone else’s life per se (except for the cat that hates everyone but came out to be petted by me), but despite being unplanned and more or less last minute it went much, much better than I expected.
I’m thinking I should avail myself of similar opportunities next year.
I did something similar to what Dragwyr did: I sent some presents to the sister of a woman I know through Live Journal. The sister’s husband didn’t get a holiday bonus and is in danger of being laid off, so they couldn’t afford Christmas gifts for their three kids this year. She, the LJ friend, asked if some of us could send a few gently used books or toys or clothes to help out.
My own husband received a very generous bonus this year, and I wanted to make sure each of those kids got something, so I bought an outfit and a toy for each of them, and a couple of little things for the parents.
Most Christmases I “just” donate money to worthy causes. It felt good to do something more personal. I’m going to try to do something like this every December.
(And I wish I’d had the mom, or at least the aunt, along to help me shop. It was really hard shopping for kids I don’t know!)
Dragwyr, that’s wonderful. And you handled it really well – I’d accept a gift from you anytime.
I sent an Amazon gift certificate to a soldier serving in Iraq. Got his name from an e-mail friend whose husband just got back.
Every couple of months I try to send something to a soldier, using Amazon’s Wish List. You can enter a name (like Smith or Jones or Halloran or just a first letter) and APO AE for the address. For $10 or $20, you can make somebody smile. I used to use the booksforsoldiers website, but they’ve messed with the site and I can’t figure out how to use it now.
Just donated money to the Salvation Army in a continuing effort to give give give to those who need during times like these when life is good at home. It’s something I’m trying to do at least bi-monthly, because humanitarian gifts are needed all year 'round. It’s the least I can do.
Instead of buying gifts for my sis and her kids (who are on a holiday trip to Washington D.C.), I used the money to buy clothing, blankets and food for a homeless outreach program here in the city.
When I was walking home Saturday, I noticed a $10 lamp in the Thrift Store that I just had to have. The guy ahead of me in line had a doll and a stuffed animal. The price was $5, but he was “All I have is $3.67. They are for my daughter’s Christmas.” And here was I, paying for a $10 lamp with a $20 bill.
I gave the clerk my $20, told her to take the $5 out of it, and spent the $5 on books for the six year old daughter. When the guy asked me why, I said “I know from personal experience that the worse thing on Christmas is to be a child with no presents.” He said “No, the worse thing is to be a parent with no presents to give.”
