neljapäev, detsember 09, 2004
Christmas Gifts and Memories
This is from the Dollar Stretcher web site:
Remembering the Joy of Giving
After reading "Scrooge's Christmas List" I decided to send the below letter to our family and friends. My family has not always been as well off as we are now, and there were times when things were a bit tight. Once we became financially secure, we felt pressure to buy something "very nice" for everyone we knew. This got harder every year because those on our list had no wants or needs. We would spend hundreds of dollars buying a "token" gift that was appreciated but wouldn't have been missed. Every year we dreaded shopping and basically throwing away good money. So, this year we are hosting an Open House for our Neighborhood and we sent the below letter to all our friends and family, via email of course!
Subject: For Christmas, I bought you...
Dear Friends, This year we spent a lot of time trying to find you the perfect gift. We looked in stores, in catalogs and on-line. We searched for that something special that once you received it, would let you know how much we cherish your friendship. After many hours of searching, we finally found the perfect gift! This year, instead of buying you something, we decided to honor you. In honor of all our wonderful and generous friends, we selected several Salvation Army Angels.
Each year the Salvation Army puts up 'Angel Trees' all across the nation. People select an Angel, person in need, from the tree and purchases items from their wish list. The items are then wrapped and distributed for the Holidays. It's a wonderful program!
This year we selected 4 Children, 2 boys and 2 girls. We chose a child that was the same age and gender of our children, we then chose an extra older child because they tend to be the ones who get picked last. We read their little story to our children, and then we planned a shopping trip to purchase their gifts. We took them to Target and they had a wonderful time playing Santa.
Afterwards we all went out to lunch and talked about how good we felt. Our children agreed that it was important to help others and they really felt good that the children's wishes would be granted for Christmas. It really made us look at how materialist our Holiday had become- and that was a wonderful gift to us! We all remembered to be thankful for what we have and to share with those who don't have what they need.
So the gift we give to you, all our friends, is passing along your kindness and love to others. In counting our blessings, we are thankful for all our wonderful friends and family. We reflect on the true meaning of Christmas and remember the Spirit that it is about- Love. It our Christmas wish that you will do the same and share with those who are in need this Holiday Season. We wish you and yours a Blessed Christmas and a Joyous New Year.Jude
Remembering the Joy of Giving
After reading "Scrooge's Christmas List" I decided to send the below letter to our family and friends. My family has not always been as well off as we are now, and there were times when things were a bit tight. Once we became financially secure, we felt pressure to buy something "very nice" for everyone we knew. This got harder every year because those on our list had no wants or needs. We would spend hundreds of dollars buying a "token" gift that was appreciated but wouldn't have been missed. Every year we dreaded shopping and basically throwing away good money. So, this year we are hosting an Open House for our Neighborhood and we sent the below letter to all our friends and family, via email of course!
Subject: For Christmas, I bought you...
Dear Friends, This year we spent a lot of time trying to find you the perfect gift. We looked in stores, in catalogs and on-line. We searched for that something special that once you received it, would let you know how much we cherish your friendship. After many hours of searching, we finally found the perfect gift! This year, instead of buying you something, we decided to honor you. In honor of all our wonderful and generous friends, we selected several Salvation Army Angels.
Each year the Salvation Army puts up 'Angel Trees' all across the nation. People select an Angel, person in need, from the tree and purchases items from their wish list. The items are then wrapped and distributed for the Holidays. It's a wonderful program!
This year we selected 4 Children, 2 boys and 2 girls. We chose a child that was the same age and gender of our children, we then chose an extra older child because they tend to be the ones who get picked last. We read their little story to our children, and then we planned a shopping trip to purchase their gifts. We took them to Target and they had a wonderful time playing Santa.
Afterwards we all went out to lunch and talked about how good we felt. Our children agreed that it was important to help others and they really felt good that the children's wishes would be granted for Christmas. It really made us look at how materialist our Holiday had become- and that was a wonderful gift to us! We all remembered to be thankful for what we have and to share with those who don't have what they need.
So the gift we give to you, all our friends, is passing along your kindness and love to others. In counting our blessings, we are thankful for all our wonderful friends and family. We reflect on the true meaning of Christmas and remember the Spirit that it is about- Love. It our Christmas wish that you will do the same and share with those who are in need this Holiday Season. We wish you and yours a Blessed Christmas and a Joyous New Year.Jude
