For the first time in years, a Christmas plan sounded like something I might actually enjoy.
The following morning, I called the grocery store.
“I need to cancel my holiday order,” I said.
The employee checked the file.
“That is an order for eighteen people totaling nine hundred and twelve dollars. Are you certain?”
“Completely.”
The refund would return to my card within several days.
Next came the presents.
I loaded every shopping bag into my car and spent hours visiting stores. By early afternoon, I had recovered nearly eleven hundred dollars.
Two gifts could not be returned.
Rather than feel defeated, I donated them to a local church’s Christmas program.
Other children would receive them.
Children whose families might understand that love was not something to demand without gratitude.
When I returned home, I felt physically tired but emotionally lighter.
The relief was unfamiliar.
It felt like setting down a load I had carried for so long that I had forgotten standing upright was possible.
