The greatest gift is truly giving

Recently, as I continued to help pay for the college educations of the children of a local window repair company, I noticed something curious as I left the shop for what seemed the 100th time. There was a pickup truck loaded with furniture and various odds and ends rolling to a destination on the near west side of Elgin.

I had a gut feeling as to its destination, being that the vehicle was loaded with what appeared to be a squad of football players. I decided to follow and in a couple of blocks the truck with young jocks backed into a driveway.

I now knew my original hunch had played itself out. What had arisen out of the most unfortunate of circumstances — a holiday season house fire resulting in a displaced family — had subsequently turned itself into one of the most heartwarming displays of good will and community spirit I’ve ever witnessed. I knew through the grapevine that one of the occupants of the burned house is a St. Ed’s football player. Dozens of kids and their parents were unloading truck after truck filled with furniture, clothes, toys and whatever else into a house donated by a good-hearted citizen.

The man who had been displaced was in the driveway, doing his best to run the show. We shook hands and feeling a little bit overwhelmed I asked him if there was anything I could do. Before he could answer, I offered my handyman services. Free, of course.

We said our goodbyes and I realized that with all I had seen in those five or so minutes, this would not be my Christmas offering to this family, it would be their gift to me. It really is better to give than receive.

The icing on the cake came as I was leaving. A van was pulling up with yet another load of holiday spirit. As I watched a crew of young girls falling out of the van overloaded with more donations, my heart leapt once again. Turns out one of them was my own daughter. God Bless you, John and Mike and Amy and everyone else who made this possible.

Thomas B. Wood

Elgin