Village Squire, 1978-12, Page 44A priceless gift
BY KEITH ROULSTON
Several years ago in the midst of the
Christmas season some thought about
perfect gifts, priceless gifts came to me. I
set them down in a column that when
printed in Village Squire became quite
popular with readers. Since then it has
become something of a Christmas tradition
to reprint it.
You lie there, my children, so strangely
quiet after your day of hectic activity. In a
few short hours you'll be on the go again,
doing all those little things that can make a
father have to work hard to keep his cool.
But now the devilment is gone and the
innocence fills your darkened room. And
my love fills the room too.
Christmas will soon be here and your
mother and I are wondering these days
what to get you for gifts. The gifts I would
like to give to you no money could buy.
They are more precious than the gold and
myrrh and frankincense the wise men
brought. I cannot give these gifts. I can
only wish them for you.
For you, on this Christmas, I wish the
gift of eternal childhood. Oh, I know your
body will grow and your mind will mature
and someday you'll be standing, looking at
your own children sleeping. But I wish for
you to always keep the qualities of
imagination and wonderment that make
childhood such a wonderful time. You'll
grow older, but may you never grow jaded
as do so many people today. May you
always feel a special stirring when you
enjoy a warm spring day, a colourful
summer sunset, the first fluffy snow
clinging to a spruce tree. May you always
feel a twinge of pride when you see a flag
floating in the wind, against a blue sky.
May you get that special feeling of awe
when you look at the billion stars in the
black sky.
For you my children this Christmas, may
you have this gift of eternal innocence but
also the gift of knowledge. Particularly that
kind of knowledge that helps you separate
the real things in life from the phoney. May
you have the knowledge perhaps better
known as common sense: that kind of
knowledge that helps you on the right path
when others would lead you astray. May
you have that knowledge that helps you
separate the real things in life from the
unnecessary frills.
For you my children on this Christmas,
may I wish the gift of eternal joy of
Christmas and the knowledge of the real
meaning of the holiday. May you always be
able to sift through the tinsel and fake holly
42 Village Squire, December 1978
to discover the real joy of love and warmth
in the holiday.
For you my children on Christmas may I
wish that you will always know the
pleasure that family and friends can bring.
Oh, sometimes you'll fight with each other
and you'll become angry with your best
friends and you'll want to run away from
home because your mother or I have
disciplined you, but may you always
recover from these minor disappointments
to discover again the strength of family
relationships and of true friendships: the
knowledge that there are always people
there who love you and will always be there
when you need help.
For you my children on Christmas, may I
wish a sense of responsibility. Whatever
you are doing try to do it well. Remember
you'll only live this life once and try to
leave the world a little better place than it
was when you came into it. You may never
be able to solve the great problems of the
world, to feed the starving of Africa or halt
wars in the middle East, but you can make
your own family run well, you can make
your own town a better place. And by
tidying up your own little corner of the
world. you can help make the world a
better place. You can't carry the world on
your shoulders and you'll find only grief
and disappointment if you try. Set your
sights at a reasonable goal for yourself and
fight to attain it.
These are my gift wishes for you. my
children this Christmas. You won't find
them gift wrapped under the tree on
Christmas morning. They'll stay here in
my heart. May I have the grace to give
them to you by helping you in the right
paths as you grow to adulthood...for your
sake, for mine. and for the sake of the
world.
e/?rthfmas
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