“I’m crying,” my sister, Laura, said, as she explained over the phone to the radio show host why she couldn’t speak. She was on Facebook livestream with Mojo in the Morning, a popular 95.5 FM Detroit-area radio show.
Laura’s black puffer coat blended into the dark early morning; frost bitten with Michigan’s winter chill. She stood, and shivered, outside her daughter Kristine’s home, along with the radio channel’s staff, volunteers, and members of the Southfield police force in full tactical gear. They milled to keep warm. Laura’s silver hair peeked over the circlet of her thick grey headband. She wiped tears from her face with heavy winter gloves.
This was the radio station’s “Breaking and Entering Christmas Wish Delivery” team. Unannounced, in the wee hours before daybreak, they drop Christmas presents to families facing hardship in the Detroit area.
Kristine’s family had been nominated by thousands of listeners. Their outpour of care and compassion brought an extra special Christmas to a grieving family. This summer, Kristine and her two children lost a beloved husband and a special dad, a Detroit police officer, Loren Courts, to the angry bullets of a lost soul in an active shooter incident.
I marveled at what moved these “breaking and entering” folks to leave their warm beds and brave bitter cold to feel the pure joy of giving. I marveled at the donor’s largess of heart. I marveled at the comfort that comes from receiving the generosity of others.
This year, so many face the sting of loss at the holidays. Losses from Covid. Losses from suicide. Losses from violence. Losses from war. Losses that are part of the natural ebb and flow of life.
May we all push aside any winter in our hearts, any bitter weather in our heads, any Grinch-ness in our purse strings and reach out to those who need a leg up, a surprise of generosity, an extra lumen of love, to make it through one of life’s dark nights of the soul.
Bless the Metro Detroiters who did so this morning.
© Linda Sandel Pettit, Ed.D., 2022
Photo by Clint Patterson on Unsplash.com
#lindasandelpettit #advent #adventreflections #hope #love #beauty #grief #forgiveness #spirituality #thejoyofgiving #Christmaswisdom #holidays of light
Linda Sandel Pettit, Ed.D. inspires intuitive-creative women healers to use their healing modalities, speaking voices, and written words to unfold and share the wisdom of the Sacred Feminine. Her podcast, The Intuitive Way of Love, debuts December 8th.
Linda offers sanctuaries, intimate small-group programs, to women healers who want to bring spirituality into their work, and to women writers who are ready to share, get feedback, revise, and publish.
Through her Apprentice’s Way individual all-in-one mentorship program, Linda encourages her clients’ spiritual evolution, psychological health, effective writing, messaging, marketing, and content creation.
Visit www.lindasandelpettit.com to learn more about her programs and array of masterclasses and courses.
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