All I Want for Christmas

I read this article on Buzzfeed today after someone posted a link to it on Facebook. The title is, "26 Moments That Restored Our Faith in Humanity This Year." I may or may not have cried. (Spoiler: I did.) And I was proud of my school for #12; I remember when it happened.

I know people have said the one about the police officer and the shoes isn't true, and maybe it isn't, and maybe some others aren't true, but please don't tell me. I think we all need to believe in some goodness. What happened in Connecticut yesterday was tragic. And tragic things are happening all around us, all the time. Big things and small things, things that make some of us see red and some of us sob.

So after reading that, I was already a little emotional and I was cleaning the kitchen and listening to Pandora (because I had exams this week and our house is a wreck since all I did was study), and the song "Say" by John Mayer came on my station. Now, I know many people who dislike this song, and I understand why. The chorus is super repetitive. All it says is, "Say what you need to say," over and over.

The song was written for the movie The Bucket List, which is about two very different guys facing terminal illness and fulfilling a "bucket list" of things to do before they die. And it is obviously good because Morgan Freeman is in it. So, in that context, the song is about saying what you need to say to people while you can, and putting your "problems" in perspective.

This is not one of my favorite John Mayer songs, musically, but I have another reason that it touches me deeply. For those of you who don't know, my mom was diagnosed with cancer in the summer of 2008. She is now cancer-free and doing well, but that period, at age 19, was the first time I was faced with the concept of mortality in such a personal way. I listened to "Say" constantly during the weeks before her surgery, trying to come to grips with the fact that my mom might not be here much longer, she might not see me get married, she might not see my kids. I spent time trying to think about what I needed to say to her.

I'm not trying to sound like a downer, here. I just want to make you think about what you might need to say. Life is beautiful and fragile, and when it comes down to the end of it, I think all we truly want is to have said and done the things that are most important.

(source)

I love this print and I think it sums it up. Work hard to do some good in the world while you're here, and be nice to the people you encounter, whether they are your parent, your spouse, your best friend, the person who serves you a coffee or a hamburger. Stop sweating the small things and just smile more, laugh more, give more hugs, and say what you need to say to the people you love. To everyone. Speak the truth in love.

Forget material gifts. That's what I want from all of you for Christmas.