The spirit of Christmas is all around us

Many of us would agree that the Spirit of Christmas, the season of giving, can be typified by the jolly old elf himself – Saint Nicholas or Santa Claus.
I saw the spirit of Santa at Dollar General in Vandalia on Saturday. As I stood in line to check out, I visited a little with the lady directly in front of me, whose cart was fairly loaded. A third woman joined in the conversation and then turned to my new friend, stating, “You have more than $20 in your cart, would you like a coupon for $5 off? I have an extra.”
Another name for this is "a random act of kindness." So easy to achieve and many times the effects are lasting. The warm feeling I experienced at watching the exchange is still with me as I write these words.
I remember showing up at the back door of my friend’s house on a hot July day with a quart of blackberries. As she expressed her delight and made motions to try to pay for them, I said, “No, this is a gift. I picked them and have more than enough.” She, in turn, replied in a quiet tone, “I’m not used to people giving me things.”
Another Spirit of Christmas is the gift of receiving. For those unaccustomed to being given anything, a simple quart of blackberries can be rather emotional. It has been difficult for me, a giver, to become a receiver; the diagnosis of cancer took care of that.
The Spirit of Christmas is not limited to a particular month or color combination. It is an every day, each moment, opportunity to give.
Referring to an earlier article I wrote for the 2006 Christmas issue of The Leader-Union, I recounted another Dollar General experience where, once again, I was in line at the check-out. The clerk asked a little boy in front of me if he had been to see Santa. Before the boy could answer, the older woman with the boy replied that they didn’t believe in that kind of stuff, or something on that order.
The Spirit of Christmas is a smile, letting someone go in front of you at the grocery store, a random act of kindness, not so much the elf.
When I was about 5 years old, Santa came to Vandalia on a train. A special stop was made on the Penn-Central line for Bill Runyon, a retired Pennsy railroad man, to visit the children in Vandalia. I remember that we gathered on the north side of the railroad track. Another time, Santa parachuted in at the Vandalia Airport to begin his stay prior to Dec. 24.
In 1914, the Chamber of Commerce provided the first municipal Christmas tree. It was 45 feet tall and stood at the intersection of Fourth and Gallatin streets. A later photo has the tree one block west at Fifth and Gallatin streets. For 20 years, the chamber  of commerce shouldered this responsibility, with the city joining the chamber in 1934 in providing a tree.
I saw the spirit of Christmas – have you?