This is part of the Christmas Memory Challenge series, the brainchild of one Ms. AndreaClaire.
I know the point of this challenge was not to talk about gifts. But I need to talk about this gift. Because it wasn't a gift of stuff.
I never know what to give my parents for Christmas. My sisters never know what to give my parents for Christmas. Last year we decided we weren't going to give them more stuff. Instead we contacted the Salvation Army and they paired us with a family who needed some assistance last Christmas. J came with me to pick out some of the gifts for the little girl and then the day of our scheduled delivery, J came with me and my sisters to buy the groceries.
Dropping our packages of was super emotional - the family didn't have much and they were so gracious and grateful for what we were able to give. They gave a card in thanks.
On Christmas morning my parents opened the card and for the rest of the holidays, my dad kept telling us how this was the best gift they ever received. But this gift that we gave them gave us something too.
We're doing the same thing again this year. I can't speak for my sisters or Alex, but I've been a little more careful about what I spent my money on this year in hopes that I could increase what I have to spend on the family we were paired with this year. J doesn't think it's "fair" that some children won't have gifts or enough food today. She was excited to pick out something for someone else and wanted it to be extra special because there wouldn't be too many gifts for this family. The family we had this year was again very grateful for our help and we received a lot more from giving this gift to another family than we would have if we had just given someone in our very lucky family some more stuff.
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