My "Charlie Brown" Christmas...

The image above represents the Christmas most special in my memories:

The year was 1967. I was 11 years old at the time, and our family was in deep poverty. Before the Christmas holiday, my mother had to tell my sister and me with a heavy heart that she would not be able to give us presents that year. I felt worse for her than for myself, knowing how hard it was for her to admit to us there wasn't enough money. I won't go into detail of why we were in this financial situation, but even as a child I understood how hard it was for my mom to go through this. I put on a brave face and told her it was alright.

Christmas morning arrived, but instead of a tree without presents, there were several small packages waiting for each of us. There was a specially boxed set of Life Savers candies, and little chocolate treats from the confectioner's shop. I will never forget the sacrifices my mother made to get those precious treats for us. Sometimes a little can mean a lot. This is what the spirit of Christmas feels like.