The Greatest Gift of All

Editor’s note: it is the month of December and for many bloggers it is the season of “Blogmas”. It is a marathon of posting every day for the month of December, often with a holiday theme. For some crazy reason I have dived into this as motivation to clear out some drafts and repost some posts from the last 6 years with a refresh. And maybe a few new stories!

It is no secret to those who know me that my second favorite Christmas story is The Gift of The Magi by O. Henry.

“One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. And sixty cents of it was in pennies. Pennies saved one and two at a time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher until one’s cheeks burned with the silent imputation of parsimony that such close dealing implied. Three times Della counted it. One dollar and eighty- seven cents. And the next day would be Christmas.”

I can be brought to tears every.single.time I read it, sometimes just by thinking about the powerful love and sacrifice that it embodies in such a short tale. Even the Mickey Mouse version my son used to watch over and over every Christmas found me choked up at the end.

“You say your hair is gone?” he said, with an air almost of idiocy.

I don’t think there is a more meaningful message out there about what our goal should be this time of year, let alone our entire lives. I hope you will go and read the entire account of Jim and Della and may your heart be filled with the joy of the season.

“But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest. O all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi.” -O. Henry

I hope to be out this holiday enjoying sights like this, following loved ones along in the snow. May this post find you in the company of those who make you feel valued and special. And recognize you for the gift that you are.