Loot

My next door neighbor is a fantastic person with two fantastic kids. She is divorced and lives alone with her kids (ages around 11 and 17). Very early this year she lost her job as a dispatcher for a small distribution company. She has been out there looking for employment, but the economy has been brutal to her.

When I say that she has two fantastic kids, I mean it. Her daughter is just old enough to know that Santa Claus is really mom's wallet, which is nearly always empty. They did not buy a Christmas tree this year (and when we offered to help her out, she declined saying that Christmas isn't about the tree or presents). About a month back she posted on Facebook how her kids were more interested in family and what they wanted most for Christmas was for Mom to find a job. They were Ok with the idea that Christmas morning wouldn't involve sitting around a tree opening presents - the whole family was thankful that there was a roof over their head and that despite the economy and Mom's unemployment, they are still happy.

This forces me to think. Between my immediate family, my parents, my in-laws, and my extended family, my 2-year old son is celebrating Christmas four times this year. As of Sunday we have celebrated three of those four Christmases and my son has received probably close to $1000 worth of toys, books, and clothing. I live a modest life - I don't have a huge house or disposable income - however this Christmas I've realized that when life all comes down to the haves and have-nots, my family is among the lucky haves.

I was thinking of writing a "what did you get this year" blog but knowing that on the other side of my living room wall Christmas was simply the 25th of December for my neighbor, I'm satisfied in the security of knowing that there is a Christmas tree in my living room, and that my son has had probably the best four-day-weekend of his life so far. When he came into the living room on Friday morning and saw all the presents that Santa Claus brought him, his eyes lit up. I've never seen him as happy as he has been this weekend. If family is more important than Xbox games, Legos and GeoTrax train sets, I still maintain that I am lucky to be part of the "haves" - and so is my neighbor.