by Samantha Daviss
Sometimes we forget that the most important things in life truly are FREE. My youngest always asks me for “huggies”. His little head comes up to about mid-chest on me, so it is my favorite thing in the entire world when he throws his little arms around me and yells “Huggies Momma, I want Huggies” and I get to look down at his white blonde hair and know that his love for me is absolutely unconditional and he and his two brothers are the best things I have ever done in my life. And the best part of those “Huggies” is that they are free and will last me a lifetime, even when I am looking up at that sweet face one day and the voice has changed, it has a five o’clock shadow on it, and possibly he has a little one on his hip asking him for “huggies.”
What made me realize how pure and genuine hugs and kisses truly are is that I was watching a video about a little boy who was about 18-months old. His mom and dad said it was time to go, and instead of having a meltdown, he took the fact he had to go “bye-bye” very seriously and he walked around the park and gave every single stranger there a hug. To watch their faces on that video was priceless. It showed the true meaning of humanity, it was a true reminder that we could all use a “free hug” every now and again. No reason, just because. That little boy reminded all those adults that are so wrapped up in their phones, their emails, their hectic lives that the pureness from an innocent child’s hug is sometimes all we need to change our lives for the better on any given day. Who knows maybe his hug saved a life – maybe someone was contemplating suicide and that innocent hug put a smile on their face and gave them reason to stay on this earth at least one more day. Maybe his hug helped a parent who just lost a child remember what it was like to love a little person again or to accept the touch of their soft baby skin.
But the one thing that is free that we all seem to be short on or not able to offer enough of is time. This year my husband and I have decided to cut way back on the tangible gifts under the Christmas Tree and gift more memorable and meaningful gifts. This has been a tough year for us with the loss of loved ones and lots of unwarranted anger from [my past] being aimed at us and dealing with a lot of issues that people shouldn’t have to deal with in a twelve-month period. So, we want to give our kids the gift of time and attention. Although it may not be all together free, it is giving them our undivided attention away from home, away from work, and off the social media grid. We are going to give our kids the gifts of travel, be it big trips or quick weekend getaways. We just want to spend time with them and get away from the stresses of life. We feel they will remember that longer than they will remember the Lego set they got for the Christmas of 2018.
Santa is still coming to our house on Christmas Eve, but what’s under the tree from mom and dad is definitely going to be more meaningful than just boxes filled with things that will be forgotten about in three months’ time. I’m not saying the option is right for everyone, but like I said we have had some life-altering changes that have occurred in our life this year and it has really helped us to re-evaluate what is truly important and what is worth getting upset over and what is worth letting upset us.
But the most important thing to remember the best things in life truly are free. Your smile, your hug, your compliment, your kiss, or your gentle nod in someone’s direction could alter their course of fate forever. Maybe that moment you took to tell them you liked their new shirt kept them from stepping in front of a car that wasn’t paying attention and speeding down the road. Possibly your sweet hug turned their inner emptiness and despair into the realization that the world isn’t that horrible. Or your gentle kiss is a reminder to not take that drink at the bar and then get in the car and drive home.
Every little FREE thing we do is life altering and it doesn’t cost us a thing except a moment of time, which ironically is free too.
