A wonderful thing happened to me the other evening. What was it, you ask? I was sitting in my living room reading a book with our dog comfortably sprawled on one of our chairs…her chair to be exact. The door bell rang and when I opened the door there were four middle school aged boys of different ethnicities on my front walk. They promptly chimed in with a chorus of “We wish you a Merry Christmas.” I immediately broke into a smile from ear to ear. I asked if they were with a church group or some other civic organization to which they responded they were not. They said they wanted to wish people a Merry Christmas and happy holidays.

I asked them to wait a moment and I went inside and got a $10 bill to give to them. I told them to buy something for themselves once they finished their caroling. They thanked me and went on to the next house. I went back to reading with a smile on my face. A couple of minutes later, the doorbell rang again. When I opened the door, there was no one there. I looked down and saw a note scribbled on a piece of loose-leaf paper, and the $10 bill. The note said, “Thank you, mister, for the $10, but we are doing this out of the goodness of our hearts. We just want to wish you a Merry Christmas.” I smiled as I held the note in my hand. It reinforced for me that in our world full of strife and discord, goodness and indeed, hope live in the promise of our youth. I hope you all have a happy and healthy new year full of hope.

Best Wishes to All

Steve Churchill