By Dorothy Denne
I just finished addressing my last Christmas card for 2015. I would like to share with you a poem I have had pasted inside the cover of my Christmas card book for many years. I do not claim authorship nor do I remember where I first got it.
“I have a list of folks I know, all written in a book,
And every year when Christmas comes, I go and take a look.
And that is when I realize that these names are a part,
Not of the book they are written in, but of my very heart.
For each name stands for someone who has crossed my path sometime,
And in that meeting they’re the rhythm in each rhyme;
And while it sounds fantastic for me to make this claim,
I really feel that I’m composed of each remembered name.
And while you may not be aware of any special link,
Just meeting YOU has changed my life a lot more than you think.
For once I’ve met somebody, the years cannot erase
The memory of a pleasant word or a friendly face.
So never think my Christmas cards are just a mere routine
Of names upon a Christmas list forgotten in between.
For when I send a Christmas card that is addressed to you
It’s because you’re on the list of folks whom I’m indebted to.
For I am but the total of the many folks I’ve met,
And you happen to be one of those I prefer not to forget.
And whether I have known you for many years or a few,
In some way you have had a part in shaping things I do.
And every year when Christmas comes, I realize anew,
The best gift life can offer is meeting folks like you!”