A Touching Story About Giving

This story was forwarded to my by a newsletter subscriber
The White Envelope
It’s just a small, white envelope stuck among the branches of
our Christmas tree No name, no identification, no inscription
It has peeked through the branches of our tree for the past 10
years or so
It all began because my husband Mike hated Christmas — oh, not
the true meaning of Christmas, but the commercial aspects of it
– overspending the frantic running around at the last
minute to get a tie for Uncle Harry and the dusting powder for
Grandma the gifts given in desperation because you couldn’t
think of anything else
Knowing he felt this way, I decided one year to bypass the usual
shirts, sweaters, ties and so forth I reached for something
special just for Mike The inspiration came in an unusual way
Our son Kevin, who was 12 that year, was wrestling at the junior
level at the school he attended, and shortly before Christmas,
there was a non-league match against a team sponsored by an
inner-city church
These youngsters, dressed in sneakers so ragged that shoestrings
seemed to be the only thing holding them together, presented a
sharp contrast to our boys in their spiffy blue and gold
uniforms and sparkling new wrestling shoes
As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the other team was
wrestling without headgear, a kind of light helmet designed to
protect a wrestler’s ears It was a luxury the ragtag team
obviously could not afford Well, we ended up walloping them We
took every weight class And as each of their boys got up from
the mat, he swaggered around in his tatters with false bravado,
a kind of street pride that couldn’t acknowledge defeat
Mike, seated beside me, shook his head sadly, “I wish just one
of them could have won,” he said “They have a lot of potential,
but losing like this could take the heart right out of them”
Mike loved kids — all kids — and he knew them, having coached
little league football, baseball and lacrosse That’s when the
idea for his present came That afternoon, I went to a local
sporting goods store and bought an assortment of wrestling
headgear and shoes and sent them anonymously to the inner-city
church
On Christmas Eve, I placed the envelope on the tree, the note
inside telling Mike what I had done and that this was his gift
from me His smile was the brightest thing about Christmas that
year and in succeeding years
For each Christmas, I followed the tradition — one year sending
a group of mentally handicapped youngsters to a hockey game,
another year a check to a pair of elderly brothers whose home
had burned to the ground the week before Christmas, and on and
on
The envelope became the highlight of our Christmas It was
always the last thing opened on Christmas morning and our
children, ignoring their new toys, would stand with wide-eyed
anticipation as their dad lifted the envelope from the tree to
reveal its contents
As the children grew, the toys gave way to more practical
presents, but the envelope never lost its allure The story
doesn’t end there You see, we lost Mike last year due to
dreaded cancer When Christmas rolled around, I was still so
wrapped in grief that I barely got the tree up But Christmas
Eve found me placing an envelope on the tree, and in the
morning, it was joined by three more
Each of our children, unbeknownst to the others, had placed an
envelope on the tree for their dad The tradition has grown and
someday will expand even further with our grandchildren standing
around the tree with wide-eyed anticipation watching as their
fathers take down the envelope Mike’s spirit, like the
Christmas spirit, will always be with us
May we all remember the reason for the season, and the true
Christmas spirit this year and always God bless — pass this
along to your friends and loved ones
Dr Mercola’s Comment:Happy Holidays
December is one of my favorite months, as it isthe month of
lights, and the month of giving and thanking I received this
e-mail from my friend Debra and wanted to share it
I really think it touches all of us in many ways As it is said,
you can never give or receive too many mizvot (in Jewish it’s
the act of giving), maybe it could be your “WHITE ENVELOPE”
Each year the US Postal Service receives thousands of letters
written to Santa Claus from children, families, and
organizations in need These letters represent their wish lists
for the holidays For the past 30 years, the post office has
made these letters available to anyone willing to answer them
Wouldn’t it be great if all of us helped to make those wishes
come true? There are lots of ways to get involved For example,
your company can make an entire family’s wishes come true or you
can answer a child’s letter Here in Chicago, the letters are
available at the main post office on Harrison Street, 24 hours a
day,(312) 654-3895 You may call your local post office for
information on how to get a letter written to Santa

Tags | aspects, christmas, desperation, dusting, helmet, league, newsletter, result, shoestrings, unusual