A holiday without gifts brought Christmas joy Gifts Portal BR

A holiday without gifts brought Christmas joy

For the first time in my life, I exchanged no Christmas gifts with my family. For two decades, I had fussed about the consumerism of Christmas, the ridiculous overemphasis on tinsel and toys, the corruption of a simple religious holiday. But until this year, I had never dared spurn the gift exchange. I could still hear my relatives' caustic remarks when someone couldn't be bothered to send more than a fruit basket; my grandmother's calculus of her children's love by the thoughtfulness--and elegance--of their gifts. I knew my mother wasn't like that. By grace and sheer will, she had escaped. Yet I could not risk her thinking, even for an irrational second, that I did not love her to the bursting point.

This year, however, fate conspired. Our sun porch floor rotted; the glass block required re-mortaring; there were car repairs and medical bills. And then my mother-in-law said, "Oh, let's not do presents this year," and we leaped at the suggestion.(Continue Reading)

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