Elise Skidmore

Christmas is here again. The shopping is done, and with any luck the wrapping is done too. We’ve raced around in an attempt to make the holiday perfect for everyone, and now it’s time to sit back and enjoy the day. Christmas is a magical time, made especially so when you experience it through the eyes of a child. As adults, we relive our own childhoods through our children, and the excitement in giving is truly as wonderful as is receiving that special gift.

As the years go by, special gifts get harder to find, and too often deciding what to get those we love becomes a chore rather than the joy it once was. The things I want can’t be purchased from a store and wrapped in pretty paper. I plead guilty at not knowing what to tell my family when they ask me what I’d like for Christmas, and children grown into adults are a lot harder to shop for. So I wrote this poem with them in mind—the gifts I would give them if I could. And really, I’d like to give them to the world, if I could.

 

What I Would Give You This Christmas

There are so many things I would give you

wrapped up in pretty paper and bows,

but alas, what I wish for

doesn’t lend itself to boxes or bags

the way the gifts of childhood do.

 

I would give you the confidence

to live your life with no regrets,

and the courage to make your dreams come true.

 

I would give you courage

to stand tall, to love yourself

without caring what others think.

 

I would give you the strength

to look in the mirror see you are beautiful,

to know that the beauty inside you shines through every pore.

 

I would give you the wisdom

to make good choices and understand

even bad choices can teach good lessons.

 

I would give you a long memory

to hold everything that is special to you,

with hope the happy memories would overflow,

drowning out the sad ones.

 

I would give you a world without hate,

where people are kind to each other,

where the needs of the many outweigh the greed of the few,

where no one need fear an outstretched hand wields a weapon.

 

I cannot give you all these things,

but that doesn’t stop me from wishing I could.

So among the gifts wrapped up beneath the tree,

I hope you see these wishes dancing among the lights,

and know that whether we are far apart or standing side by side,

your mother’s love and dreams for you will always be with you.

 

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, filled with love and laughter. May you create happy memories to keep you warm all winter long.

~Elise Skidmore ©2017