The Summerland Advocate-Messenger - Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community

The word “gift” has been on my mind lately and it’s been churning, causing me to contemplate the significance of the term. A memory sparked, involving gifts. I’m certain that’s why it’s been lingering, nagging at me like a penny waiting to be picked up and examined.

Years ago, during family Christmas, we’d pile gifts in the middle of our grandparents’ living room. Sometimes, we drew numbers, other times, we’d go oldest to youngest or vice versa, to determine who would be first to select a package.

Each one of us scanned the group of boxes and zeroed in our sights. Some bo...