All I Want

All I Want

BY DEBBY CARROLL

I love holidays. I love all of the pomp and circumstance and yes, I really love presents. Me and presents? We go way back. I can recall the exact moment of joy in December 1960 when I ripped open the paper to find my dream girl – the now vintage “Bubble Cut” brunette Barbie. My parents chose her, they said, because she looked like me. By that, I’m sure they meant she had short brown hair because, at age 9, I assure you no other part of me (then or now) looked like Barbie.

So, why am I now saying “Enough” when it comes to presents?

Because I literally have enough. I have enough stuff. I have more than enough, actually. I’m all the way to too much.

Don’t get me wrong. I am beyond grateful for everything I have and take none of it for granted. But, as one of the great perks of growing older, I’ve discovered the joy of simple things and beyond that, I now cherish the sheer joy of moments more than material goods.

The only thing I want for this holiday season is just that – moments. My birthday is in December and I told my daughters that what I really want is a Girls’ Night Out with them. They looked askance, almost rolled their collective eyes, as if to say, “Yeah, sure, Mom.”

I wasn’t kidding. That is really all I want, from them, at least.

I’d like our leaders to be compassionate and protective of us.

I am fortunate to have an immediate family filled with love and compassion. My husband and three daughters, my three sons-in-law, and the two newest additions to our circle of love, my grand boys, Avery and Damon. (AKA Mr. Delicious and Mr. Adorable)

I don’t need gifts from any of them.  I need time together.

Don’t get me wrong. There are other things I’d like. I’d like a peaceful world. I’d like us to be able to count on the planet sustaining us indefinitely. I’d like our leaders to be compassionate and protective of us.

Those would be the presents I’d want to receive this season. But, since my family can’t deliver those, I’ll take what they can give: Time to revel in all that we share: love, respect, compassion, and a good meal from time to time.

And I wish the same for you and yours.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR – DEBBY CARROLL

Debby Carroll is Avery and Damon’s Grammy and the Executive Editor and Director of Strategic Development for GRAND.Upon discovering how outdated the images of grandparents were in the children’s books she read to Avery, she decided to write a new one on behalf of fabulous, real grandparents everywhere.

 RealGrands: From A to Z, Everything a Grandparent Can Be is available on Amazon