.... Good will to men

This morning I was rushing about the house getting things done.  I planned to run to the post office, BJ's, Market Basket and Target with Megan, but as is typical with us, we had a hard time leaving the house.  I woke up late because I went to bed in the wee hours of the morning working on Christmas cards.  Conor was in tears when we scooted him out the door to go to school.  Brian's Jeep had a flat tire.  Megan cried as we drove daddy to work because she wanted to eat her eggs (that I hadn't prepared yet) before we went.

When noon came around and Megan and I had just taken baths and gotten dressed, I shortened my to-do list dramatically.  My only quest was to make it to the post office.

We got a lucky parking space and jumped out of the car to send our box full of Christmas cards, with only about 15 minutes until Conor got out of school.  Of course there was the seasonal line of people sending off holiday packages.  Sweet Megan agreed to put all of the cards into the slot marked "stamped mail," which was positioned at least a foot taller than her.  This made it tricky.  But she managed to work on them while everyone in the post office admired her work and smiled at me.  I stood in line and waited.  And waited.  Finally, the cards were done and there were 2 people still ahead of me.  Ironically, I was in line to send one card overseas. I wasn't even sure if I needed to stand in line for it or not.  I said to the woman in line in front of me, "I wonder if you could send this for me.  I have to go pick up my son from school.  If I give you a dollar, just in case the postage is wrong (which I knew it wasn't), could you do that for me?"  She quickly said, "I'd be more than happy to!"  I was so grateful.  I grabbed Megan's hand and as we walked away, I thanked her again. She called out, "If I have any change, I'll give it to the Salvation Army guy up the street."  I smiled.  I felt like our interaction could be added to a book of cheesy stories of Christmas cheer.  It felt really great and lifted my spirits.

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep;
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With Peace on earth, good will to men."