How is it that Christmas and the holiday season can symbolize two very diverse emotions for a lot of good people! On one hand there's happiness and cheer and the true spirit of giving to look forward to...
and on the other, there's the all-consuming worry about getting the gifts just right, especially for the most important people in our lives - our families! I know Christmas is beyond the exchanging of material objects and I appreciate that sentiment.
But I would be lying if I said that the gift exchange was not something I eagerly looked forward to...
I know a lot of people would agree with me there (and they're not all below the age of 10!).
So just what do you get the parents? Or the grandparents? The people who already have everything and who don't really need anything.
And it's not because they're particularly wealthy or already have a plasma screen in each room of the house or can travel the world whenever they want to...
no, I'm talking about 'ordinary' people and 'ordinary' families like yours and mine but whose lives are rich in the good stuff like unconditional love, support and respect...
you know, like the stuff you see in the credit card commercials? Well, I got my answer from someone who had hired my services as a Video Biographer.
I was interviewing a lady about her life from childhood to present day, capturing her stories, photographs and memories on video...
and when it was done, she asked if she could order 4 copies of the final DVD.
She said she would like the video to be her Christmas present to her family, her children.
Not because she was vain...
but because she realized she had spoken about things and relatives and times from the past during the interview that her children did not know about.
She had shared memories of experiences her children did not know she had had or that their family and ancestors had been through...
and that was the gift she would like to give this Christmas.
The gift of remembering.
Of learning.
Understanding.
And yes, of belonging.
And once her children would know of their history and of the unique life their mother had led, they would pass it down to their children...
and those who follow after them.
It would cease to be just a Christmas gift from 2009 to becoming a family legacy to value forever.
A Video Biography is a unique and personalized gift to give to a loved one.
Because they fill it with what they want to.
And in a fantastic process of transformation, it becomes a gift from them in the end.
A gift that doesn't run out after a single use or a month or a year...
it's a gift that keeps on giving.
From one generation to another.