I'll Be Home For Christmas

In a few hours I’ll be headed back to the U.S. of A. Honestly, I’m not quite sure how I feel about this. Of course I am delighted beyond description to see my family, yet even in that I feel like I have some Hollywood style reunion playing in my head. I can recall the old Folgers coffee commercial where the older son comes home unbeknownst to the parents and wakes everyone up with a percolating pot of caffeinated splendor, y et as I get ready to head back home I’m unsure how I’ll react not so much to my family but more so to the consumerism of the holiday and the hustle and bustle of the season. In some ways, things are harder over here, yet in many ways, things are much simpler. Yesterday, I wished a taxi driver and our neighborhood fruit seller “Merry Christmas” in Chinese When I said it to the fruit seller, he smiled a toothy grin, thanked me and wished me a Merry Christmas. As I walked away, I couldn’t help but feel warmth in my heart. On the exterior, this man doesn’t appear to have much, but his smile showed a childlike kindness and energy that I’ve been lacking.