Christmas memories made with family nearby

Christmas, a wonderful time of year, beautiful decorations, Christmas carols, an inviting home with a fire in the fireplace, and the glimmer in the children's eyes...how blessed we all are!

Personally, I can say my life has been very blessed with an abundance of family love and graciousness. I grew up in a Christian home with a very close knit family. We had such wonderful family Christmas traditions. Every year, as a family, we would decorate the house, drink hot chocolate, eat German brown bread and adorn our tree. We'd volunteer our time to charity and feel so fortunate and blessed by all that God has given us.

My step-father would write the cutest little poems to my sister and me. He'd place them in our Christmas stockings on Christmas Eve so that on Christmas morning that would be the first thing we'd see. The poems contained our interests, during that year, and most important, to us, were the hints to where our gifts were hidden. I can remember the family gifts that stretched from one room to the next. I remember thinking that we need a bigger house or less gifts! After we opened our gifts, we'd all go to church where our grandparents were waiting with loving arms. After church, we'd all go back to the house, put a fire in the fireplace, with Christmas music playing and eat the best meal, cooked with love.

However, one year I remember going to my room and just crying my eyes out. I wasn't very old but to this day I remember that Christmas day like it was yesterday. We were coming home from church one Christmas morning and I remember seeing this lonely person standing in the cold, looking so lost. How sad I was for that stranger, no warm fire in the fireplace or dinner on the table, but what was even more disturbing is that he had no family around him, and I did.

My parents always made sure that we knew about the less fortunate in the world and how we could make changes, even though small, changes that might impact someone else's life. As a mother, I hope that I've passed all of these things onto my children.

So this year, I challenge you to invite a person into your home who needs a warm fire in the fireplace or meal this holiday season. If that makes you uncomfortable, take a blanket, a candle and a warm meal to an individual on the street or to a family who is less fortunate than you. Volunteer that small amount of time (that we never feel we have) to the local food bank or homeless center.

You may not have much but you have more than most!

Think about it....you're reading this article, in a newspaper that costs money, aren't you, and it's not a make shift blanket.

Enjoy your holiday season, remember the less fortunate and MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

From my family to yours.

Marla Parsons