Dear Grandma:

The big week is here. The tree is up in its new spot in the new house. Itís small, only about five feet tall, so I set it on top of two bee boxes, and Cindy put a tree skirt around it. It looks great, like it belongs there, and it has three presents under it.

We went out and bought a tree this year, the first time for as long as we can remember. No fir trees on our property down here.

Christmas is different this year, Grandma. The kids are gone now. When they were little, it seemed like they brought Christmas with them. The concerts and school artwork and Sunday School pageants, even our trip to the woods to cut the tree were all a big part of the Christmas feeling.

I miss their excited talk about the presents under the tree. They would shake and rattle them, with an occasional word of warning from Cindy or me. ìCareful with that one, Noah.î ìI wouldnít squeeze that one if I were you, Gol.î

They would count the presents too, to see if they each had the same number. They almost always did, thanks to Cindy, who could keep track of such things. I was lucky to know what they got. Itís a guy thing. Maybe Grandpa was the same way.

Cindy is still doing her part. The creche has a new home on a table in the living room, and there is holly on the stair railing. And she has made hundreds of cookies, many of which have found a home with me. (She got up at 5 a.m. last Saturday to bake. Thatís as sure a sign of Christmas as any.) Your chocolate cookies are still my favorite. It was nice to see your once-familiar handwriting on the recipe card on the counter.

But I am seeing and feeling the Christmas spirit, Grandma. It seems like every day for the past couple weeks, I have taken a picture or written a story about some good Christmas deed. Students gathering items for soldiers in Iraq. Groups donating to the food shelf. The huge Care and Share effort to distribute gifts to children in need in the county.

And in all those cases, I sense that old saying, ìëTis Better To Give Than To Receive.î A lady at the Care & Share gathering told me something like that. She said this was good for the kids, but it was good for the community too. Good to give, to come together and help your neighbor. Even if you donít know who you are helping. Maybe that makes it even better.

One of the recipients of a Care and Share gift came into the office last week to pick up a late donation. I sat in the other room, and could feel the womanís excitement and gratitude from there. Her teenage daughter had received a new jacket! The price tag was still on it. It would fit perfectly!

The girl had never received a new jacket in her life.

Jill was gracious as usual, and deferred the thanks to the whole group, which of course was true, although without the Jills of the world, there would be no Care and Share. But thatís the subject of another letter.

Anyway, the glow of good will in The Argus after the lady left lasted for about a day. You could almost feel it radiate like a heat lamp, or like the light from a Star in the East. It just sort of summed up Christmas for me.

So thatís it for this year, Grandma. I will try to track down an orange to eat on Christmas day, in honor of your favorite story about getting a Christmas orange every Christmas, how fresh and good it tasted. And Iíll have a few of your cookies too!

Love, David

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Caledonia Argus
314 West Lincoln St.
P.O. Box 227
Caledonia, MN 55921-0227
507/724-3475

E-Mail: editor.argus@ecm-inc.com