last friday night i cried while watching "love actually". it's a horrible movie (sorry jen) that pulls together a bunch of successful british actors - obviously in need of a little personal fund raising for the holidays - into a sappy love story that happens on and around christmas day in london. the brits, according to the "love actually" script have to act truthfully on their feelings for the christmas holiday. all those jive adult romances had me about to push the stop button on the remote (kiera knightley can go take her one look pout-y face and suck it). but enter the twelve year old kid (who's recently lost his mother for good rom-com measure) with a crush on his classmate who learns the drums, performs in the pageant, and ducks airport security to profess his undying puppy love to her and i'm all teary-d up. guess it's the dad in me.
this friday i'm pretty much back there. pass the tissues. we the employees of d'ner architects are participating in the "letters to santa claus" gift giving program this year. a big thanks to jacky who for three years has tried to get the office to switch from its money grabbing in house secret santa exchange (hello fellow professional would you like a cheap gift from another professional...let's agree not to talk about it afterward ok?) to something with a little more heart.
so jacky grabbed a stack of letters from the post office and now we're getting down to business. my little man, aneury, wrote a thoughtful, convincing letter asking for warm clothes (fellow professionals...do you ever recall wishing upon a star for a warm sweater when you were ten?) for him and his older brother and sister. his dad left them last year and his mom, who's sick, busts her butt just hard enough to cover rent and food for the four of them. so not much left for christmas time. but i'm not crying over the sadness of their situation alone.
i get teary when you see someone who's still got a warm heart in a cold dark situation. this little man somehow heard of the program, wrote a thoughtful letter, and put it out there. at ten i bet he doesn't believe in santa, but he believes in something. the letter isn't desperate, and it's polite avoiding one possible stance which would be, "yo, salaried man who feels like giving up 2 hours pay, you owe me!". and yes, i saw 30 rock last night where they covered the potentially fraudulent angle to this program. i guess it takes some heart on the donor's part to believe the stuff is really going to a kid in need and not a guy with an ebay account.
i don't know if you all have felt it at all, but this fall i've felt such a dynamic shift in my community (i'd even draw that circle big enough to include the country) away from consumptive behavior to conservative. but there's also a sense of reality that makes you realize you don't have it as bad as that "lady on the radio". when we see the bottom fall out i guess it's natural to look down and see who is still below you.
the darkness is always there in good times and bad but this year i'm appreciative of the the changed perspective that let's me see into it with a little more clarity and concern. even more thankful to have felt the warmth in Aneiry's heart come my way.
And if that sappy post isn't the start of "love actually: the sequel" i don't know what is. merry christmas all...be good!
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