The Joys of Christmas: What to put under the tree this year?
I do love Christmas for all the reasons that tradition holds. I suspect that many people are lost to those reasons as culturally society has failed them. I noticed the longing gaze in the eye of a bank teller the other day when I took out the money to buy my wife’s Christmas present. I could see that she was married, and wished that somebody went to the trouble that I was for my spouse to see that she had a good Christmas. I revealed my plans to the young lady because of the amount of money that I was taking out in cash, which most people wouldn’t feel comfortable carrying around with them. I explained that this was the only way I could keep the present a secret from my wife with the hope of lasting till Christmas Day.
She let out several long gasps as she counted the money in stacks of hundred-dollar bills and I could tell that she wished for the same kind of cloak and dagger type maneuvers from her own spouse. I told her to be patient, that if she could stay married for a quarter of a century like my wife and I have, that such a thing would be possible in her own future. She smiled, at that and seemed to perk up as she lost track of her count and had to start all over again.
For what Christmas means to me, CLICK HERE and learn what my favorite Christmas song is and why. I don’t think I will ever tire of Christmas morning, and waking up to unleash the many devious plots that I had been pondering for months toward all the people in my family that were carefully concealed acts of espionage designed to make them happy. I truly enjoy those magical mornings of cold winter delight as for just a moment the world takes a deep breath and enjoys the company of one another. And I truly love surprising people, especially my wife, since she is so incredibly hard to catch off guard.
In all our years of marriage, there have only been a handful of times that I have been able to “catch” her with a surprise of any worth. Some years it is a treasured book that is hard to get, some years it is a gift that she would never buy for herself. Of recent years, I was able to give her a slick monokini from Victoria Secret that she could wear in the streets of Key West and Cancun without being too over-the-top, and not look like a 17 year-old-girl. Hard to do with her, and not cheap, since she is extremely picky—extremely. That was over four years ago, and I haven’t been able to get her quite that good since—until this year.
Another year, my oldest daughter caught me off-guard with a book called Way of the Fighter, which I had been looking for over 20 years. (CLICK HERE FOR REVIEW) It’s a rare out-of-print book that costs over $100 dollars from used book venders. During one of my trips to Los Angeles as I had time to kill from my business there, I spent entire days at the large used book stores on Brand Boulevard looking for a copy of that book from some deceased celebrity’s estate where the kids sold off all the things they thought didn’t have value. But to no avail. Somehow, my daughter had tracked down a copy of that book and gave it to me on Christmas, which to date is one of the greatest gifts I have ever received during all my many Christmases over the years.
But the gist of the gifts have not always been about the money, or how much they cost, it is the value of the thoughts behind them, the scheming all in the name of love that goes on in behalf of coaxing just a bit of joy out of a loved one for just a moment. It is the selfish joy of seeing someone you care about open a gift that you carefully prepared, and plotted to give under the cloak of secrecy for the sustained joy of the gift’s intended recipient.
I suspect Christmas at my house this year will be one of the good ones, and I worked hard to position it that way, and the payday is on the morning of December 25th—and I frankly can’t wait. But as we wait for that fateful day, if there is a freedom fighter in your family, or a Tea Party patriot, a young NASCAR fan, a hopeless romantic, an avid reader, or just a rebellious renegade then might I suggest you give them for Christmas my book, Tail of the Dragon. Aside from a last-minute plug for the book, it is a story that will continue giving well into 2013, and they will love you for it. So if you order one now from the links below, the book should arrive well before shipping companies close down for Christmas, with Saturday the 22nd being the last day. Amazon.com has been sold out for most of December, but my publisher just sent them a heap of books to fill the need. And I’m pretty sure that Barnes and Noble has been able to keep up their stock. So this is just a friendly reminder for the last of those gifts you wish to give that special someone who are truly unique, there is still a chance to put Tail of the Dragon under the tree before Christmas.
For my readers here, I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year. No matter how dark and dreary things appear at times, it is always the human qualities that are best expressed on Christmas morning that ensure that the human race will always persevere over tyranny and chaos to find joy on a new day as the best of what’s in all of us come out on that wonderful—joyous day of December 25th each and every year.
Rich Hoffman
