Spreading Christmas Cheer

One thing that I wanted to do this year was some sort of service to help us focus less on the commercial side of Christmas and more on the real reason for the season.  I made a couple gift baskets with goodies and we went to a local nursing home.  We asked if they had anybody that didn't really get a lot of visitors.  They told us about two women who would probably love to visit with us, especially since we had Ryder and they love babies.  We found them and one of them was just about to go to bed, so we gave her the gift basket and told her we don't know her, but we wanted to come wish her a Merry Christmas.  She lit up so much and said "Oh thank you!"  She looked at the gift basket and said "How beautiful!" and then went to her room to go to sleep.  The second woman, Lillian, invited us in and we visited with her for a little bit.  She showed us her antique spoon collection, pictures of her family, Christmas cards she had received, and her teeny desktop Christmas tree that Kevin helped her plug in since she couldn't reach.  She told us to treasure our little family and that we are all we need in life. It just about broke my heart because I could see a picture of her and her husband, who I'm sure had passed away, and I bet she especially misses him around the holidays.  At one point she was looking for something for Ryder to play with, and she found a little stuffed bunny for him to keep. She was so sweet to us!  I don't know how well she'll even remember our visit, but it definitely made an impact on us.  I hope we brought a little cheer into her Christmas.