Merry Christmas to all of you on this special night.
I wanted to share something with you that I think sums up this night as good as any story will or can. But let me first start with a conversation I had with my daughter about a year ago. I asked her out of the blue what memories she had as a 16 year old from her childhood. I was disappointed when she couldn't really think of any, but I didn't let her know that at the time.
Fast forward to this evening when she joined my wife, my mother and I in the living room when she got off from work as a 17 year old. My mother asked her if she remembered playing restaurant when she was little.... At first she said no, but then she asked "wait, were there little yellow and blue and pink plates?"........ "And a little book with pictures of food on them?" My mother was delighted she remembered, maybe even more than me. She then asked my mother if the sandwiches she used to make her in the summers when she kept her were pimento cheese? My mother told her they were.. and my daughter told her she tried chic fil A's pimento chicken sandwich recently and immediately thought it reminded her of when she was little but wasn't sure.
My night was made, this has been a tough year, my wife lost her sister and her father this year. We've been struggling to keep the farm and the animals we've rescued over the years afloat......... Material things are nice, even essential....... But the memories and sentimental value they bring are priceless. The greatest riches in the world are made of these.......... Merry Christmas to you all, may you make memories that will be treasures for years to come!