The perfect gift

WASHINGTON – -- ‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring … because they were all at the mall rushing to finish their holiday shopping. In desperate pursuit of the perfect gift, they jostled and shoved from store to store, and rang up huge bills on their credit cards.

A lot of us do this every year. It’s like we’re obsessed with getting the best gift ever, each year trying to outdo the year before. But this year, I met someone who put the spirit of giving in perspective for me.

A few weeks ago, I met a captain from Ohio who donated bone marrow to a complete stranger. A 17-year-old boy he may never meet. Talk about the perfect gift! That bone marrow could save the boy’s life.

But something else happened that day, too. In the course of our conversation, the captain said something that really made me think about what it means when I don my uniform every morning.

He said it’s not really a huge stretch for him to donate bone marrow, even though it’s a rather painful procedure. Military members sign a contract that basically says they are willing to give their lives in the defense of the lives and freedoms of others. So how is donating marrow to an anonymous person in need any different from those pacts each of us made?

What he said made me realize what a huge gift each of us offers to our nation. Even people who, like me, don’t battle on the front lines or sleep in ditches in far away countries with bullets flying over our heads.

Because we all make sacrifices. How many times have we missed holidays, birthdays, graduations and other special moments in the lives of our families and friends because the mission needed us? Isn’t that a wonderful gift?

I have a good friend who is spending his first holiday season in the United States in the last three years, his second in the last five. And next year, he’ll be in South Korea, missing another season with his family. He may not be in Iraq, facing imminent danger, but he’s still making a sacrifice. What kind of gift has he given?

How about those people deployed to Afghanistan, Iraq and dozens of other nations in support of the war on terror? What a gift they give to all of us at home, who aren’t there -- this time. Because of the sacrifices they’re making, the citizens of nations like Iraq and Afghanistan are learning how precious the gift of freedom is, and people like you and me get to sit this holiday season on the sidelines. Hopefully next year we can make it up to them.

I guess this year I’m not so worried about giving perfect gifts, or receiving them either. The bigger concern is appreciating the gifts I already give, and more importantly, the gifts given to me.