I'm a pretty happy guy with few wants or needs so whatever my wife ends up giving me will be great . . . after all two years ago she bought me a chainsaw for Christmas -- she tends to know just what a man really wants.
I truly am a lucky man. I have an incredible wife, good health, a decent home, a good job and a few toys (and a few bills of course) . . . I am content with my lot in life.
There are some things I would like to see for Christmas, but they're not something you could fit under a tree.
-- I would like to see a day with no fires, no car accidents and no need to call an ambulance . . . a day to give the guys I work with a break, but more important, a day when people everywhere can simply sit back and enjoy the day.
-- I would like to see those people out there who are struggling financially because of job cuts, poor health or rising expenses (think heating oil) to have some hope by realizing that there are other fellow human beings and neighbors who have taken the time and their own money to help them out a bit by buying a gift or two for their children when they may not be able to afford much to buy on their own or to simply drop off a food basket. I know that this year especially there are folks, the "working poor", who may be too proud to go on the dole or ask for hand-outs and this year they are hurting as heating oil prices and gas prices continue to remain high.
-- I would like for people of all faiths to think back on this season and remember why they are exchanging gifts -- whether it be Christian, Jew or Muslim
-- I would like people to remember our servicemen and women who are overseas and in constant peril . . . as well as the families of those men and women who have lost their lives so far . . . regardless of whether you feel the war is right or wrong
-- I would wish for everyone to have good health this year . . . good health is one of those things that so many of us take for granted until it is gone and then it is more valuable than anything.
-- I would wish for all of the people out there who have lost someone or experienced a personal tragedy this past year just a few moments of joy on Christmas. I would hope that no one is lonely or spends the day by themselves . . . unless they truly want to be alone.
-- I would wish for people to be thankful for everything they have in life and not wish for more when we realize that so many people, even right here in the US (remember Hurricane Katrina) and even in our own neighborhoods (just take a look around your own town or city) have so little . . . (not that there's anything wrong with wanting a few extra goodies though -- it wouldn't break my heart for example if I found a TV surround system or a couple PC games under the tree -- well that is if I had a tree -- my wife is working this year so we don't have one)
-- I would wish that every young boy and girl -- shoot even men and women -- would never lose the "spirit" of Christmas -- the joy and the excitement that comes with the holiday spirit. It seems as though so many people find this time of year to be a time of stress and anxiety instead of a time of great fun and celebration. It pains me to see adults who have grown up with a hard childhood and for them Christmas is never a fun time, but only a reminder of the "bad old days." It pains me almost as much to see adults who think the only real way to celebrate the holiday is to buy, buy, buy, go to every mandatory Christmas party, pageant, etc. and then decry how stressful this time of year is for them. It pains me the most however to know that despite it all there will be children this year who will have a bad Christmas and will grow up not loving this time of year like I do . . . and there will be adults who will continue to cynically view this time of year as a curse and just another reason to engage in consumerism.
-- I would wish that folks who have to work on Christmas find some time at some point to be able to celebrate the day . . . if not with their friends or family . . . at least with the folks around them
-- Last, but not least, I'll be a little selfish here . . . I'm wishing for a snowstorm or two since I really want to get out and start riding the trails.
To my fellow geo-cachers that I have "met" here and on the "hunt". . .
Merry Christmas.
Happy Hannukah.
Happy Kwanzaa.
May the spirit of this time of Ramadan be with you.
Happy Holidays and Seasons Greetings.
There, I think I covered all of the bases.