This is not to remind you of the gifts you didn't send last Christmas nor is this a memorandum that you should send one for me this year. I just want to tell you Merry Christmas, from the bottom of my heart. No other purpose. I don't even expect you to return the greetings.
Seldom do I get presents for Christmas. There were even times that I didn't get one at all. Perhaps my heart has grown numb and my mind has conditioned its on that it will not be receiving gifts for Christmas.
The spirit of Christmas, however, is not in the receiving but in the giving. That's how I see it now. Sourgraping, you might say, but I always end up the giver during the season. I give to my "inaanaks", I give to my parents, siblings, loved ones, neighbors, friends. And I never asked them to give me something in return.
But on the second thought, it is in giving that I find the real gifts for Christmas - my "inaanaks" give me reasons to be a good god father, my parents' gift has long been given since i was conceived, my siblings (despite the fights) gave me the gift of being a responsible brother, my loved ones the gift of love, my neighbors the gift of nightly laughters and guitar jammings, my friends the gift of friendship.
I may not have received gifts that can be bought but, with the things I mentioned above, I realize that i have been receiving gifts that come from the heart, gifts that cannot be measured by its mere price. Gifts that last a lifetime.
