Finneran: Mothers and Christmas

Friday, December 05, 2014

Tom Finneran, GoLocalWorcester MINDSETTER™

Your Mom was right. So was mine. Most mothers know it instinctively and, as good mothers always do, they pass it on. Mothers are Nature’s first and best instructors. Their collective wisdom: “It’s better to give than to receive."

Their insightful lesson and remark is frequently offered after surveying the pileup of gifts on Christmas morning, with some of those gifts destined for the cellar or garage or attic and some of them to never again see the light of day.

The commercial excess of Christmas drowns our senses. Christmas “music” gets piped into stores in early October and holiday “sales” assault us at every turn. It’s really very easy to surrender to it all, thus begetting yet another year’s excess. And of course the true message and meaning of the season get lost in the avalanche of midnight brawls over discounted junk.

Jake and Sparky Kennedy saw it all first-hand and they decided to try something different, something special, not for themselves or their own sprawling extended families, but for families whose lives are upside down.

Thus began “Christmas in the City”. I’m Catholic but hardly alone when I pray to see a lot more spirituality return to Christmas. Enter Sparky and Jake, from their own spiritual backgrounds, laser-focused on the loneliest children, those who wander on the edges of our abundance.

Kids whose families live in shelters suffer a physical and emotional turbulence that’s hard to imagine. They have no real neighborhood, they have no real friends, they have no real school. Heck, they have no real address, for every day is filled with instability and uncertainty. For them, Christmas has to be one of the saddest days of all…..

Now consider the kindness of Sparky and Jake and a boatload of volunteers, all volunteers, with not a single paid staff, determined to give those kids and their families the “best day of the year”. Consider also the kindness of many donors who remember their Mom’s wise words about giving, not receiving. Some donate time, some donate toys, and some donate money, all essential to pulling off this now annual and legendary Christmas miracle.

Picture this---some three thousand “guests”, children and parents, are bussed or limo’d to the hall. There they are greeted by their favorite cartoon characters. Then it’s a catered lunch. Then a stage show. There’s a petting zoo, hands-on exhibits from local museums, carnival rides, clowns, local athletes, and of course Santa. And this Santa is very well-prepared for some volunteer “elves” have helped him select each child’s favorite wished-for toy or gift! God bless Santa and those volunteer elves for they make each child feel like the most special child in the world.

Dentists are on hand to clean teeth. Hairdressers and barbers are there to pamper the parents as well as the kids.

For a day at least, the children know joy. They have the fun of childhood restored. And for the weeks and months that lie ahead, holding on to that gift or toy in the midst of their shaky lives prompts happy memories and bright smiles.

For the parents too, often bewildered and frightened by life’s sharp edges and hard turns, there’s a message of love and care and concern. To experience a community’s generosity, to see that generosity bestowed on their eager but lonely children, and to see the light of joy in their child’s eyes lets them know that they are not alone in their struggle. Sparky and Jake Kennedy walk with them. In spirit so does your Mom, whose wisdom and kindness and generosity knew no limits. She knew that there, but for the grace of God, go any one of us. She knew too the meaning of the words “for unto us a Child is born…..”

Christmas is restored. Merry Christmas.

If you wish to support the all-volunteer effort of Christmas in the City, checks may be mailed to CITC, 84 Towsend Road, Scituate, Mass. 02066. Every single penny goes to the kids and every penny is cherished.

Tom Finneran is the former Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, served as the head the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, and was a longstanding radio voice in Boston radio.

Finneran: Mothers and Christmas

Related Slideshow: 30 Ways To Give In Central Mass This Holiday Season

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