Loose Ends: Gift wrapping time

More. More. More … It’s not money everyone finds themselves short of this holiday season, it’s time. Everyone seems to feel the same way and the holiday festivities only make things worse. There are people who seem to be especially good at managing time, but it often doesn’t include big blocks of time for family or friends. It gets filled up with busy-ness, the biggest time waster of all.
The constant activity of others is most noticeable when one is not able to get out and about like other folks. Whether one chooses to stay in, has to stay in, or finds the challenges of getting around outside the home insurmountable, it is hard to truly include someone who is a shut-in, especially during the holidays. The term shut-out seems more appropriate. Even when the decorations are up, music is playing and community groups visit, it is difficult to make those interminably long days alone go faster.
The gift of one’s time is one of the toughest to give during this season, but for those who remember holiday celebrations fondly, it is essential to try and and take some time during Christmas Day and New Year’s to just be with those community members who can’t get out and about with everyone else.
A long time ago a nursing home resident tried to explain what the holiday season was like for her.
“Oh, I don’t celebrate the holiday anymore, it just isn’t the same as it used to be.”
She found herself living in the Walbridge Wing after suffering a bad fall and her only living relatives only lived in town during the summer months. She found that if she treated it like any other day, it wasn’t so painful to sit and watch as other residents were picked up and taken to the homes of their family and friends.
There was a lull in the family Christmas celebration, so I went up to visit that morning and the two of us played cards, shared junk food and just chatted about inane things. It wasn’t much, but she told me that gift, 30 minutes of my time, meant so much.
It would be nice if we could wrap the gift of time and present it with a flourish under the tree. It is not one of the trendy presents sold in stores. It is still available and hopefully those of us who can give freely of this precious commodity will do so. It is the right thing to give to others. Merry Christmas!