Christmas kindness

December is a great time to reflect on all the joys that make life wonderful. Holiday specials on television and Christmas carols on the radio illustrate what a lovely season it can be. However, the time to reflect often gets overlooked and pushed out of the way as the hustle and bustle of Christmas errands keep many of us preoccupied with what to get, rather than with what to give.

Good intentions are often marred by the tendency to fight over the last parking spot, the last sweater and the last toy, yet Christmas seems to bring out both the best and worst of people.

To show that the good really does outweigh the bad, especially at Christmas, we asked readers to share their stories of Christmas kindness. Here are just a few letters that warmed our hearts, and will hopefully spread the Christmas spirit.

Santa drives a taxi cab
From Cathy Sarson:
My story is not about a Christmas gift of kindness given to me personally but rather gifts given to MANY by my dear late cousin Leonard. Dear Len, who passed away in March, 1999 at the age of 72, was a cab driver for many, many years in busy downtown Toronto.

Len's outlook on life was always to help as many people as possible, as often as possible. This was especially true during the holiday season when even on Christmas Eve, Len would often work for as long as 10 hours a day, no matter what the weather.

Many of Len's fares were festive and in the holiday mood. Others would perhaps be tired and stressed from holiday preparations and were anxious to reach their destinations.

In any case, rides would all have the same happy endings: with smiles from the passengers and Len as he would announce that the ride was free and wish them a Merry Christmas.

Perhaps someone reading this now might have once been a recipient of Len's gift of kindness by riding in his cab and are now smiling as they remember a Christmas Eve gone by.

The gift of giving
From Lois Alexander:
I recently lost a friend to cancer that I have known for over 20 years.

When I first met her 20 years ago, she was wearing a beautiful necklace. When I commented on how beautiful it was, she said, "When I die, I will leave it for you."

Twenty years later she passed away. I went to the visitation and her husband called me aside and said, "I have something for you." Apparently, the night before this wonderful person died (she knew she did not have long to live), she told her husband to go upstairs and put the necklace in a box and be sure to give it to me. Not only did this person remember this from 20 years ago, but also, here was a man who had just lost his wife of over 30 years and he remembered to bring it to the funeral home. What an amazing couple. This is kindness beyond belief.

The kindness of strangers
From Sue Kang:

This wasn't something that was done to me, but there was this time when I was working at a grocery store.

People would sometimes realize that they bought too much and wouldn't have enough cash. I've helped customers out with loose change, but one day a woman who didn't have enough money for two roast chickens asked me to put them away. As I was doing so, the customer behind her said he would take them. After he paid for them along with his groceries, he handed the lady the two roast chickens and walked away. It was something I never thought I would ever see.

Day of thanks
From Dave Austin:
 In 1990, a close friend was moving from Vancouver back home to Toronto after a break up. I flew out west to make the drive with her back across the top states of the US.

It was late November, Thanksgiving holiday, when in the Dakotas we encountered white out conditions that forced most traffic off the highway. My friend and I were not prepared (clothing-wise) for what were very uncommon weather conditions at the time. We had no choice but to seek out lodging in a small community called Wall. 

Not surprisingly, the town had just one motor inn, which was completely full. As we stood in the lobby of the inn contemplating whether or not to drive on or to risk a night in the car. A woman, hearing this, came to us offering coffee. We were more than glad to have an excuse not to go out in the weather, not realizing that this woman was making calls in search of a home that would take us in for the night!

My friend and I were taken in by the sister of this woman, who turned out to be the owner of the inn. We were welcomed like family into a stranger's home.

We each had a hot shower, were given our own room and clean pajamas. When we very gratefully entered the kitchen to thank this kind woman and her son for their hospitality, to our amazement, there was an entire Thanksgiving dinner laid out on the table.

As it turned out, the single mom and her teenage son would both be working on Thanksgiving Day and had planned to have their Thanksgiving dinner a few days early! This did turn out to be a day to give thanks.

The next morning, we woke to find a note in the kitchen telling us to help ourselves to breakfast and to have a safe trip home to Canada! We were both touched by the goodwill and trust of these strangers and will never forget their kindness.

A magical Christmas
From Elaine DeBock:

Christmas 1982 was a difficult one for our family, as out four year old daughter, Janina, was dying of leukemia.

After eight weeks in hospital, she was home for the Christmas season. We had just come back from the Christmas Eve service at our church and were getting the children ready for bed when there was a knock on the door. In walked Santa Claus! Without a word, he greeted us with a nod and gave each of our wide-eyed children a small gift. With a wave of his mittened hand, he was out the door and gone. To this day, 20 years later, we have no idea who the kind stranger was who helped make our little girl's last Christmas a magical one!