The Real Gift

To whom do you need to say it?

Who is the person (or persons) in your life that means the world to you? Who is it, when you think of them you think, "I'm not sure I'd know how to breathe without them in my world." Whoever that is, today is the day, now is the moment, to look them in the eyes and say, "I love you. You mean the world to me."

It needs to be said.

It needs to be said because tomorrow it might be too late. After lunch it might be too late. In another minute it might be too late.

Death. I'm talking about Death. We are all dying all the time. We'd like to think that Death would leave us alone from about November 1st through the beginning of the new year. But Death is not kind. Death is no respecter of people, love, or holidays. Death walks in whenever it wants to.

So, it needs to be said. We need to tell those we love that we love them. We need to not waste time.

I was reminded of this imperative a few days ago. We had some wild weather here in the great state of Washington. Huge torrential rain followed by wind and more rain. It was bad enough that it caused all manner of destruction in Western Washington. As I watched news coverage of the aftermath, there was a story of a middle-aged woman. About an hour after she'd gone to bed a huge tree fell over, crashed through the roof right where she was sleeping, killing her instantly. Her daughter and son-in-law were in another room. The daughter wept in front of the cameras. She thought they had more time together. She couldn't understand how something this awful could happen at Christmas time. She hadn't even told her mother that she loved her that day.

We need to tell those we love that we love them. Now. Often.

Presents will be forgotten. The true gift is saying and hearing, "I love you." That never fades. That never goes away.

The following is my new favorite Christmas tune. It sums it all up so well...

May the spirit of love touch the human race
Put a smile on every single face
~Smokey Greenwell