This week has been an eye-opening week for me.

It seems like every year I dismiss the holidays as just another year and I try to keep my head down and just get through them. But without fail, when I least expect it, Christmas cheer jumps up and bites me in the bottom.

I overslept Monday and in the midst of throwing on my clothes and being grumpy about not having coffee in my hand, I realized one of my favorite boots is splitting from the sole. Instant bad mood.

When I got to work, we were frantically wrapping presents for the family the HCC staff adopted. We adopted a family through the Seton Fund, which means at some point this year, a person in the family has been admitted into the Seton Family of Hospitals for an extended period of time. Our family is a mom, dad, and three little girls. Needless to say, we had so much fun shopping for them and buying things that I take for granted every single day…dishes, towels, sheets, and other fun stuff.

We got everything together and loaded it up to take over to the house. When we got there, the mother welcomed us into her home and she was so excited by the load we were carrying. We set the presents under the tree and she said thank you over and over. But when she realized that we were walking back to the car to get second, third, fourth, and fifth loads of gifts, she started crying.

My cynical little heart turned to mush. I realized that this meant more to her than ANY Christmas present has ever meant to me. Even my sparkly clear plastic high heels that my dad gave me when I was four.

That moment changed my holidays. I quit being grumpy about traffic (or really tried to anyways) and started paying attention to how people are spending their money this year. This year seems different, it seems like giving has become way more important than getting.

We’ve been opening our remittance envelopes from the letter George sent out about Hill Country Conservancy recently. Not sure about you, but his letter made me cry. Another thing I take for granted every day, the hill country. It’s home to me. It’s where I regroup and relax, it’s where I have my best days, and where I go to get rid of my worst. And I forget so often that it could be gone before we know it.

Who wouldn't want to preserve this?

Our Seton family and George’s letter have made me realize that $25 means very little to me, but it means so much to so many different people and causes.

If I get my dad a gift certificate for $50 instead of $75, he’ll be equally as thankful and he’ll never know the difference.

So I’ve made myself stop stressing about Christmas this year. And I’m going to stop worrying that my gifts to people won’t be the BEST THING EVER. It’s just not important. But what is important are the bikes and games and toys and books those little girls get to open on Christmas morning. And the checks that we get every day from wonderful people who are as passionate about preserving our amazing environment that makes this city great, that’s important. I can’t tell you how much your generosity means to us this year…we really are floored every time we open the mail these days.

I realize it’s a little late, it’s December 22, but if you haven’t finished shopping, spend $50 less than you were planning and donate it to something that matters to you. See if anyone notices you didn’t spend more money on them. My bet is, they won’t notice and they won’t care. But the cause you spend $50 on will absolutely notice. And if it’s HCC, we’ll all talk about how great you are in the office when we open your check! You can also donate to HCC online if you feel inclined!

Okay, enough of the sappy stuff. Happy Holidays…we love all of you!

Back to the regularly scheduled fun content…Andrea, you’re up.

Advertisement