Gifts of Love Keep on Giving by Karen Boyle

During a recent phone call with my aunt, I was reminded of long ago days. My Aunt Eleanor and her husband were the reason I arrived in Arizona more than forty-two years ago. I tagged along with friends for a two-week vacation from the blustery winter cold of Northwestern Ohio. That vacation hasn't ended. Aunt Eleanor relocated to Alabama several years later after she and Uncle Art retired. They had a good life and enjoyed fishing and other recreational activities with friends in the area. A few years ago, Uncle Art died, leaving my aunt alone with no family in the immediate area. No family within nearby states even. Loneliness was evident in her voice as we visited together over the phone.

During the course of the call, the upcoming Christmas season became a topic of conversation. She asked if I remembered the 'puffy reindeer and sleigh set' I had made her. Of course I did. It was a set of ceramic figurines that I had made and given her. When I first relocated from the Phoenix metro area to St. Johns, the only people I knew were Jack and Ivy Anderson. Ivy taught school and Jack worked at CGS, where I was also working. It was a terribly lonely existence. After work and on days off, I would stop and visit Lillian Pulsipher at her ceramic shop. I enjoyed visiting with her and others who would stop into the shop while I was working with my hands to create gifts for others. I was reminded of such gifts as I talked on the phone. 

Sadly, my aunt has lost many of the items special to her due to tragedies beyond her control. As we talked and she reflected on the little puffy reindeer and sleigh set, she suddenly exclaimed that her small ceramic scene of Christ at Gethsemane that I had made for her also survived. The joy she felt could be heard in her voice. As her loneliness subsided during our call, I could sense my own joy increasing. The time I had spent, so many years ago, easing my own loneliness was now a source of comfort to someone else, someone so special, someone lonely. I can imagine it is the same comfort felt when admiring a painting, a quilt, a pillow, or other gift created by a loved one.

I am grateful for the thorns of my own loneliness. I am grateful for the Christmas season when we can celebrate the birth of our Savior and reflect on all He has done for each of us. We can grow and learn from His example and serve one another. We can find joy when we strive to ease the loneliness of others.