Wow...it's been YEARS since I opened a Lifesaver story book. What a great memory.

Every year we celebrated with my grandparents, we went to church on Christmas Eve. When we got back to the house, my grandmother would insist the children "just open one present". My father used to get so bent out of shape and she would push on in a way that only a grandparent could. Three hours later...everything was unwrapped and it was after midnight, so she would say "see...it's Christmas...I told you it was ok"

As for gifts, this is the first year ever that I didn't get underwear and socks. Ever!

__________________
Though I am different from you,
We were born involved in one another.

For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart. It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul.

Complete surrender should not just come at moments in which one faces overwhelming odds, but in the calm when it seems one is personally in complete control of one's life.