The Gift of Giving

“It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air”- W.T. Ellis

Three years ago, a struggling mother and her teenage son definitely proved this quote to be true through their kind actions. The mother had found some spare change and decided to go through a Wendy’s drive thru, where she was greeted by a young man working there , wearing just a T-shirt because he couldn’t afford to buy a coat. The mother didn’t think much of it and continued about her day. When she arrived home, she was greeted by a gift from her church; it was a food basket and two envelopes, one with a gift card to the grocery store, and the other with a very generous gift card to Walmart. The mother was overwhelmed by the gift. When she picked her son up from a Christmas party, they both agreed on what they must spend the Walmart gift card on. They raced to the nearest store and bought a warm, durable winter coat, which they then took to the Wendy's drive-thru, that the mother had been to, earlier in the day. When they reached the window, they immediately handed the young man the coat, he was shocked by the generosity of a stranger. He asked the mother why she had done this for him, she responded with “Merry Christmas, I want you to know that God loves you and this is a gift from us to you” after which they pulled away from the window, and leaving the beaming young man behind.. Recalling this story to author Nicole Phillips a week later, the mother said how happy she and her son felt to have helped someone struggling.

This year's festive season is going to be slightly different to what we’ve experienced before… The usual joy, excitement and festivity that surrounds the holiday season is overshadowed by the events of the tumultuous year. Life can sometimes knock us down in ways in which we don’t know how to come back from, but to keep our spirits lifted, and to keep moving into the future, we must remember the things that we have in our lives, that brings us joy, peace and love. Whether that be a person, an object, a TV show or anything else, remembering what truly makes us happy, is essential, to surviving a year with so many obstacles.

These past few months have taken the world by storm and have turned what we considered as normality, into a distant memory of the past. We have seen people suffer and may have even suffered ourselves at the hands of something no one could have foreseen. The story at the beginning of this article saw a mother with so little, going out of her way to help someone, out of the kindness of her heart. The holidays can be an especially hard time for some people. Many people all over the world are struggling due to the current pandemic. Like the family at the beginning of this article, doing something kind for those around us, or for those struggling, can bring an innumerable amount of joy during the festive season. In the new year, see if you can make a difference, by donating to a charity, helping the less fortunate, or just doing something nice for a friend or loved one.

“We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone”- Ronald Reagan

Dia Nanda, 10F