Good People

It's that time again. It's the time when every sentiment of heartfelt emotion is tugged at by overzealous comericals and Hallmark Hall of Fame movies that inevitably make you sob like a baby. Between American Thanksgiving and Christmas every move you make in any direction turns you to a spirit of giving and can sometimes be so over done that the true meaning of why we give can get lost.

I love the made for TV movies, especially Hallmark's and how they remind me of the emotions and love that bind us by whatever definition we choose to call a family. These movies and all the other ways I am reminded of Christmas help me to know that emotion and tears and love are all good and meant to be the driving force that brings us to what this season was always supposed to be about. Family.

I remember a lesson my mother taught me when I was very young about the Christmas season and about giving and about people. I was home sick from school one day and when I came downstairs there were quite a few woman wrapping all sorts of gifts and filling stockings and chatting and laughing. I was little enough to still believe in Santa and I think almost right away Mom recognized my internal conflict.

She took me aside and gave me another one of those amazing life lessons. It wasn't some hokey tale about Santa's helpers or some made up mumbo jumbo about elf's, it was real and it was about poverty and "good people" who reach out and help. Mom was part of a club that reached out to families in need, a group of women not tied to any organization, just friends, who gathered together and gave in a ton of different ways. I remember the faces of the women there, the women I have admired all my life. Some are still at church, some aren't but all of them had hearts of gold and gave not because it was legislated but because it was right.

That was the first time Mom taught me about "good people". She taught me that coming from "good people" didn't automatically make you one. That giving wasn't the only qualification but that your heart had to be involved and not your pride. She taught me to recognize them and to become one. All these lessons have shaped me into the person I am today.

I grew up and for along time I thought "good people" really only were in the church. That has changed so much now, especially in that I see so many where I work and in my daily interactions. I love Christmas for so many reasons and seeing and feeling the hearts of good people is one of them.