Happy Monday Friends!
The countdown has begun. Yesterday was a triumph in the stunts department. The children were wonderful and absolutely adorable. Some highlights were when Joseph, 5 years old, decided to ad lib and told us how tired Baby Jesus was. Then there was the parade of Angels and Wise Men down the aisle looking so regal and holy and let's not forget the star. The star was played by Deborah and she was literally a big, gold lame stuffed star and all you could see was her face and legs sticking out. Secretly, I was jealous. It was the prime role in my humble opinion.
Lucia was another successful event and I'm still full of wonderful meatballs and gourmet cheeses and crepes. As Matt said, it's best to make noise rather than to be quiet in the night and to focus on how people lived rather than how they died. Le Sigh.
My Christmas letters, labels and cards are ready to be stuffed and mailed. Extra Le Sigh. Christmas is certainly knocking at the door so get out the extra nog, assemble a plate of cookies, turn on the tunes, put on How the Grinch Stole Christmas and get out your favorite Christmas stories.
One of my favorite Christmas stories is The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry. I'm not sure how old I was when I first heard this story but it struck a chord with me on so many levels. On the superficial level I'm obsessed with hair and specifically scenes where women have dramatic moments of chopping off long locks. The scene in The English Patient when Juliette Binoche's character chops off her locks in the tower of the monastery is one of my faves. Two of the reasons that I personally long for long hair is one, so I can set it in rollers and two, in a fit of madness at home I can get out the scissors and dramatically chop it off. I'll spare you the details of my many haircut disasters as a child or begin to analyze this for signs of lunacy but there you have it. Hair.
The other thing that really struck me about this story was how two people could live in such poverty and give up their most prized possessions so freely for another person. Sure, I'd heard and read about altruism and poverty before but for some reason this really lit the spark in the light bulb. Further proof that you have no idea what will click with a person so best to keep trying.
Here is a link to the full story. It isn't too long, the language is beautiful and I would encourage to find a few minutes today sneak away and read this beautiful tale.
Buon Monday!
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