By Debbie Meehan, Editor

I love everything about the holidays because to me it’s when people seem to shine the brightest, even when the world can be a little dark. There’s something about the holiday season that brings out the best in us. Trust me, if you could take a look around my office through the holidays you would know just what I’m talking about by the amount of cans of food and unwrapped toys that have been donated to help people in our community. People are good, contrary to popular belief. They want to reach out and touch someone’s life, especially in these days when the world is so unsettled and it seems peace is so hard to come by. Yes, the world has changed, but it doesn’t mean we need to change our compassion and human kindness for each other. Someone once told me that “the best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others” and at the holidays it’s easy to find joy and contentment in your heart when you’re helping someone in need, it truly does bring out the best in you.

The true meaning of the season is not about what we receive from others, it’s what we give to others. It’s not about what material gifts we have, after all, those are just possessions, things that easily get discarded through the years as we grow tired of them or they break. The true gifts are the friends we’ve made and the lives we’ve touched along the way through the simple acts of kindness we do.

Truth be told, if someone asked you what gifts you received last year would you really remember? I doubt it.

But if you ask the little boy who stood quietly at the community center until Santa took him on his lap and gave him a shiny fire truck or the little girls and boys whose eyes lit with excitement when Santa, Mrs. Claus and a group of blue elves (aka Woodbridge Police) showed up at Walmart to take them shopping for the holiday, what they received for Christmas that year, they will tell you every detail. Not only will they remember that gift but when they are old enough to understand they will remember the kindness of strangers that gave them a holiday they otherwise may not have had that year or possibly wouldn’t have enjoyed so much.

People fall down and go through difficult days for all kinds of reasons but there is no stronger hand then the hand that reaches out to pull them back up and shows them kindness. For in the end, it’s not the trinkets you’ve collected through the years, it’s the people you’ve collected, the lives you’ve touched and the friendships you’ve made, those will always be more valuable and personally, I’d trade every shiny trinket I was ever  offered to keep those memories and the people I love instead.

So this holiday, take a breath and breathe in what the season is about. Give a toy to a child in need, give food to a family that is hungry and do so without judgement, do so simply with just your heart. Spend time with an elderly neighbor who is all alone and just wants someone to talk to, sit down for a while and listen to their stories, for as good as it will make them feel, it will make you feel even better.

Doing this as adults is also a great way to teach our children that caring about others and being kind is so important because it will help them grow into strong, compassionate and kind human beings and the world needs that more than anything else right now. Technology changes every day and the world becomes more advanced and that is a wonderful gift for our future generations, but human kindness, that should never change, generation after generation, compassion and love for our fellow man should always prevail for if it does, goodness and hope are sure to follow.

Wishing you and your families a Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukkah and a  wonderful Holiday Season and may we all look into this New Year of 2020
and find peace, love and human kindness!