This job isn’t always easy. Sometimes, it seems we reporters can do no right. I immediately assume any call that comes in must be a complaint, for rare is the time that someone calls to say thanks or good job. But for the past couple of weeks, this job has been a real blessing, since it has largely consisted of watching as people opened their hearts to their neighbours and friends, with gifts, food, and acts of kindness and support.
I spoke to women who had fled abuse and who were raising children on their own. I spoke to a woman who no longer had her children, and was finding solace in her loss by helping out a family in need. I spoke to the Knights of Columbus, who have organized food drives for years for those having hard times.
And I began to realize just how silly the things we complain about are, the little things like the front door being left open or wet towels being left on the floor.
I told one woman – let’s call her Cheryl - who had left her abusive husband to raise her children on her own, that she was putting my life into perspective.
“To think,” I said, “that I made a stink about my husband leaving a snowman tin in the fridge. I thought it had Christmas treats inside and opened it, only to have maggots spray out everywhere.”
“Ugh,” she shuddered. “I don’t blame you for being mad. That’s gross.”
Even in her own difficult circumstances, Cheryl astounded me with her positivity, her optimism and gratitude for the community in helping her out – not to mention her sympathy for my troubles of being booby-trapped with fish bait!
She could have been miserable, bitter and angry. Instead, she chose to talk to me to tell me about all the good people that have helped her out this year, and how she is working to forgive her ex and let go of anger and hate.
And that is a real gift. Christmas is indeed the season of giving, but there are real angels in this community and they work quietly behind the scenes all year long to give the people around them that inner peace and happiness.
Thanks to Sheila Parks of the Parent Link, lots of families like Cheryl’s found help this Christmas. These families may have originally aimed to have just one or two presents under the tree. But Sheila knew that they deserved more, that they deserved a day to enjoy themselves free of stress and worry.
So when local people asked her, “Who is a family that needs help? How can I help them?” she knew just where to point them. And instead of finding just one or two presents under the tree, families were adopted by others and found dozens of gifts for their kids under the tree, along with some special items for the parents themselves, even though they had been ready to go without.
While her job involves supporting the community, anyone who has seen Sheila in action knows how much she goes above and beyond her work, in her own time, to give those that are struggling a listening ear and a hand up. And when people like her give, they do so with no desire for recognition. They close their eyes and open their hearts, and give without expectation, without strings attached.
The more I spoke to people this year, the more I saw the desire to do the same. These Good Samaritans spoke to me, not to get their names in the paper, but to spread the cheer and the knowledge that anyone can do something for others, at any time of the year. And those who received were grateful – what was the most meaningful for them were not the gifts, but the support and kindness from the community, for showing the real meaning of Christmas.
As I started out by saying, how lucky am I? I consider myself blessed to have a job that shows me the best this community has to offer in each and every one of you. Here’s to more of the same in the 2015 year that lies ahead. Happy New Year!
