What does Christmas mean?

[dsaundry]

So after a long night I was trying to think what Christmas meant to me. I am traditionally known as a bit of a grinch this time of year as I have never really been into the typical gift giving thing unless it was for the little kids. My kids are all in their 20's now and are all doing pretty good in their lives and careers. I really don't believe in the religious side of the holiday and hate the commercialism of the holiday even less. As an employer I hate paying employee's for not working and giving them time off when the shop could be making money. {the scrooge in me} so this time of year also gets me down as well. I usually throw a few bucks in the Salvation Army buckets as my wife usually nags me that I give in and donate. So I guess you can sum it up in a nutshell that I have not been the most pleasant of people at this time of year. I will also say that this is the first year I don't have my mother with me as she passed away earlier this year so again...Christmas means a lot less. Don't get me wrong, I like having the kids over for dinner but in some ways it seems anticlimactic. I usually can be a real hard a$$ when I watch the news and have often been heard muttering sarcastic remarks when a hard luck story comes on. However and I know they have been on before but I watched a story about the food bank the other day and how donations were way down and what the average hamper was for a family of 4. I was shocked when I saw how little was there. Maybe I am getting soft a bit but something got to me and last night along with my youngest daughter we went out to the grocery store and filled a shopping cart.She didn't say a ton of stuff but this is what she posted on her facebook page.

Had a nice time shopping for the food drive with PB♥ Despite your 'tough' image, you are really just a big teddy bear .. Got me thinking about all the things I am thankful for in my life and there sure are a lot of things! 'Tis the season to be generous, thankful and kind ♥ Happy holidays people!

PB stands for Papa Bear. So I guess we both "get it" now. So starting this year we will be donating to charity this time of year {mostly food banks} and the kids have all agreed that instead of us giving them $50-$100 we will go out and shop for the food bank and make that our yearly tradition from now on. I will still have my gruff side but I am sure glad that this year I have seen things differently and I think helped me be a bit better person. This isn't meant to be a plug for people to go out and donate to charity{that would be great} but just to state that if change is possible for this old "Bear" then there are still some real nice things in this world aside from all the doom and gloom we are subjected to on a regular basis. So to sum it up as they traditionally say at the end of the holiday movies, "Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!"