A lovely Christmas morning service with darling husband’s brass ensemble playing in a beautiful setting — what a gift to start our day!

Wonderful food and drink prepared by willing hands. Many dishes, wine glasses, and pots and pans washed and put away, some of them for another year. Priceless memories to savor and conversations to replay and remember — the gift of community.

And then there were more tangible remembrances of Christmas. A hand-knit scarf from Mexico, home-made cookies and a spectacular Yule log cake, beautiful  jewelry and fun electronics, and special California-themed foods. I can’t wait to get the Roku box up and running, and my new Kindle holds so much promise. Thousands of movies and books, all obtained at the touch of my fingers. I am overwhelmed by the generosity and thoughtfulness of friends and family.

Today I have the gift of time. Every now and then we wander to the kitchen to do another round of dishes and make another pot of coffee in our new French press, but after three days of non-stop togetherness, it feels good to have a little breathing room. Soon we’ll morph into our Magnificent Mile selves and head downtown to enjoy another day with our children and revel in the beauty that is our home town during the holidays.

Image via forbes.com

Gifts are everywhere.