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COLUMN: The season for giving

I t’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas around Squamish, with coloured lights adorning neighbourhood homes, folks parading around in those awful gaudy holiday sweaters, and endless festive musical classics being piped into every business.
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It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas around Squamish, with coloured lights adorning neighbourhood homes, folks parading around in those awful gaudy holiday sweaters, and endless festive musical classics being piped into every business. 

To be honest, aside from the music (except for The Vince Guardia Trio’s music from A Charlie Brown Christmas), I generally like the Christmas season. I’d be able to tolerate the Xmas tunes a little more if they just didn’t start playing everywhere in early November. After about two months of hearing “Jingle Bells” I’m usually at the point where I could murder someone with a sharpened candy cane. But, I suppose that’s not particularly in the spirt of Christmas now, is it?

What totally is in the spirit of this season, however, is thinking about others. That is my favourite part of Christmas. I love trying to come up with just the perfect gifts for my wife and kids. I like to surprise them with something they have been coveting all year, or even better; something they would have never even thought they wanted. I also love spending hours on Christmas day preparing a huge meal for my family and friends, and watching them all stuff themselves with my efforts. 

I also truly love seeing the Community Christmas Care bins at local supermarkets (and other participating businesses) around town. It always makes me smile when I see someone dropping food items or toys into those bins, because it serves to re-affirm my faith in humanity. After a year of crazy politics, neo Nazis, mass shootings, and general global douchebaggery, it’s heartening to see that people aren’t all jerks. 

And it really doesn’t take all that much effort to make someone’s life a little bit brighter this holiday season. When you’re doing your groceries this week, just pop a couple extra items into your cart. It’ll be painless at the checkout, but it’ll warm your heart when you drop them off at the Food Bank. The same goes for when you’re blowing all next year’s bonus on toys for your brood this year. Maybe you could add just one more toy to your cart, so a child who is a little less fortunate this year has something to open on Dec. 25. Cash donations are always more than welcome at local charities, too.

In the mad stressful rush to have our own “happy holidays” – gaudy festive sweaters and endless Jingle Bells notwithstanding – try to remember the true meaning of the season, and help make it merry for those struggling in our community, as well. Merry Christmas!

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