Merry Christmas

Surely it’s a bit early for Christmas wishes? You may well agree.

However, this morning we received our first Christmas card for the year. It was hand delivered and at first I didn’t know it was a Christmas card, I mean it’s the middle of November. Christmas cards are not the first thoughts that spring to mind when picking up anonymous post.

When I went to the front door, there on the mat sat a small white envelope. My initial thought was that it was an invitation for M to attend someone’s birthday party. Bending to pick it up I went through a list of possible senders. It was addressed to me so I opened the small envelope and extracted the card. The query formed on my brow, “who could this be from?” Quickly I flipped open the card and then I smiled.

It was from an elderly neighbour. She lives alone since her husband died about three years ago. Although she has relatives locally the people on the street, including my son and I, often pause by her window to wave as we pass by or knock on her door for a brief chat on our way home. It was not dementia that caused her to send an early Christmas card; it was something quite different.

A few weeks ago we bought some chocolates and decided to give boxes to some of the ‘mothers of the community’ – she was one of them. As we couldn’t get hold of her when we went delivering chocolates we left her box with a neighbour. So this morning she sent a card saying “Season’s Greetings – thank you for the chocolates, what a lovely surprise. Have a great Christmas ...” Mrs C’s expression of gratitude, as well as our gift to her, reminds me that every day is a good season to greet someone and extend a touch of love.