The Holiday Season is in full bloom. We are scurrying about in the noble attempt to get everyone a Christmas Gift. From sizing rings to Vintage Santa Claus…it is Noel Immersion. Yes, we are thinking of those who are less fortunate and know that this is the epitome of the giving season. Christmas parties are abundant. We must have the perfect outfit for the joyous event. Hopefully, we can be clever and fluent in dry humor and appropriate quips. I remember with great pleasure this time of year when I was working at Southern Illinois University @ Carbondale. The time off from work was plentiful and greatly appreciated. For a number of years, we attended our friends’ Christmas Parties. Jo Ann and Peter knew how to throw a Christmas Party. They had the most glorious of Christmas Trees each year and vintage ornaments adorning them. Their parties were catered by Tom’s Place, a superb local restaurant with an award-winning chef. I strove to be a silk purse made out of a sow’s ear… The madrigal revelry was compelling…but the highlight of MJ and my visit was the few moments that we were able to spend with our friends…and the mutual affection that we had for each other.

I received my crown this morning, not for my head…but for my tooth. Dr. Jenny told me how much she enjoys looking at the photos I display on Facebook. Her heartfelt words made my day! Later this morning I texted my friend of over 50 years and told him that the photos that he sent MJ and me reminded us of the lovely time that we spent with them over Thanksgiving Week. Jeff wrote that he and Margo loved us…and I replied that MJ and I loved them as well and that old friends are the best.

There is no substitution for telling your family and friends how much you love and appreciate them. We want to…but we do not want to appear flaky or silly or have a blank stare returned to our loving gaze. Yet the Bible says that a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver… I promise you that you will not receive a Christmas Gift that will touch your soul more than the words from the soul…the heart…of someone that you care about.

Genuine words of commendation and praise and affection can lift depression…give hope…and illuminate the path for 2023… You can be lonely in a crowd. You can feel forgotten and unseen and unheard in the midst of a throng of humanity. Soon we all will leave this mortal coil. We will discover the Big Secret…that none of us currently understands. Words of praise are melodious at funerals. People come that you would not have dreamed of coming…and they utter what the deceased person meant to them. I hope that somewhere they are listening…because they will be as surprised as anyone…