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#1
12-14-2011, 06:10 PM
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PB reading your story really touched me deeply. I am a Christmas loving kind of guy and feel this is the time of year to rejoice for friends, family, and for me in the Christ of Christmas. I respect those who don't feel the same way and will celebrate with them however they wish but you can rest assured this is a GREAT time of year for me and my family.
Your story isn't typical and it shows just how tough times can really be for others yet we go about our own lives not really "getting it" at all. You "Got It" and to say that this is your new family Christmas tradition is simply awesome! My hat is off to you and your whole family! Merry Christmas to you and your whole family. 
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#2
12-14-2011, 06:19 PM
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Thank you for sharing!! You actually brought tears to my eyes and got me a little choked up. I too hate the commercialism of Christmas, my kids are a bit older (teenagers) and its all about I want, I want, I want. I love that I will have my entire family together this year and trying to make it something a bit different. I love this idea and am going to suggest as a family, we do the same thing. Once upon a time, when my oldest was just a baby, I was on my own with her and going to school, living on student grants. A couple of months of missed child support had me at the food bank myself, an extremely humbling experience to have to need the support and generosity of others. I worked my a$$ off over the years and have never had to go back, but there are so many who do need the help for whatever reason. So today you made me think about something I haven't thought of in a very long time.
I hope you and your family are blessed throughout the Christmas season and year to come and that your mom is amongst the angels watching over you.
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#3
12-14-2011, 07:36 PM
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Awesome!! This year our department at work is doing a donation thing to the food bank. Instead of buying little gifts for each other we're going to put in what we would have spent. Brilliant idea.
__________________
Christy's Reef Blog My 180 Build Every electronic component is shipped with smoke stored deep inside.... only a real genius can find a way to set it free.
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#4
12-14-2011, 08:00 PM
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What does Christmas mean to me?? It's a wonderful time to have small children. Even if you don't have children who can't smile when watching kids on Christmas day... As an adult I don't partake in the religious side of the day, and really cringe when I think about the "obligation" side if when your spouse's family doesn't live close by, even if they do it gets overly hectic trying to please both families. Then there is the side of have's and have not. With the globs of excess we in North America live with it's sad to see families in need of just the basics, people should give more .. it has me feeling a tad guilty about wanting to spend X amout of dollars on a new light...
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#5
12-14-2011, 08:01 PM
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Hey Darryl... great story. Thanks for posting.
Our family had also decided that this year we would not be doing our standard gift exchange. (You know the one where everyone shops last minute and ends up with mediocre gifts that no one really cares about receiving.) One of my sisters and her husband recently adopted a little boy from Ethiopia. During the adoption process they had to travel to Ethiopia a couple of times. From the pictures they took and the stories they came back with it was clear that we have so much to be thankful for and often times take things for granted. So...this year we decided to donate the money we would normally spend on gifts for each other, to various charities. We won't miss the gifts and will be helping others that could really use it. Sounds like a win win to me.
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#6
12-14-2011, 09:32 PM
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Darryl, thanks for sharing.
I and my wife's side of the family do not really go for the commercial side of Christmas. We are all Christians so we do focus more on the religious side of Christmas, but I have always preferred the gift-giving to be reserved for the little kids, even before I became a dad myself. For me, Christmas is more about getting together with family and friends, not gift-giving and spending money most people can't really afford. We donate to food drives but I thought that BWA's Christmas food bank raffle was such a good idea that I also sent a donation (ie. bought tickets) for that since I read in the papers that every dollar donated can allow the food banks to buy three dollars worth of food. However, your story has inspired me to try to do more. As a worthwhile life lesson for Felicia, I will take her food bank shopping and we will bring some of our "plenty" to donate to our local food bank (not just to Edmonton's  ). Thanks for telling us this inspiring story. Merry Christmas to you all, Anthony, Irene, Felicia & Isabella
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If you see it, can take care of it, better get it or put it on hold. Otherwise, it'll be gone & you'll regret it!
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#9
12-15-2011, 12:52 AM
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My wife grew up pretty poor and her happiest childhood memory is one Christmas when her parents said there was no money for any presents or a Christmas dinner that year. They went out to a relatives house on Christmas eve for a little party and when they got home there were all kinds of presents under the tree and a couple of big food hampers. These all came from Santa's Anonymous and because it played such a big part in her life and really taught her generosity from the heart we always buy lots of toys for the charity. Even when we just started our lives together and very little we knew that others had even less and so forwent our own gifts to donate to others. Nowadays we like to get our kids involved by choosing gifts and having them spend a little of their allowance on donations and we also try to deliver presents and food hampers for the charity as well. I was really busy last year with all the snow and unpaved roads as lots of volunteers had to cancel, luckily I have a 4x4 truck so I just kept going back for load after load until all the presents were delivered.
I give to various charities all year but Christmas is special to us and we become a lot more generous during the holidays! And we want to return the feelings my wife got years ago to others less fortunate and hopefully give them the same feelings and hope that she received. Merry Christmas everyone!
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