As a child I often contemplated what I would ask the “genie in the bottle” or the “good witch” or my “fairy godmother” if fortune ever smiled upon me. Of course I always felt stymied by the bothersome rule that you could only have three wishes, so I usually expanded it to at least five. One of my brothers tried to point out to me that if you just wished for perfect health, all the money in the world, and a new car you had everything covered. Sort of took the excitement out of the whole process. Besides, I couldn’t drive.
I never wanted good fortune to be quite that easy. I wanted to think about my wishes. I wanted to anticipate them. I wanted to think they were possible, or at least plausible. I wanted them to be creative, specific, and “guilt-free”. I wanted to deserve them. Even as a kid I instinctively knew that if I had “all the money in the world” other people would have to suffer and I would feel bad. My Sunday school teacher must have been a good one!
I was thinking about this today because my children always ask me what I want for Christmas. I’m not one of those people who has a list going of what they want next. I have so much already. When I think about what is important I am a blessed woman. Good fortune has smiled upon me several times- not in monetary ways, but in ways that calm the soul and nourish the heart. So it is difficult to come up with a list of “wants” for the holidays.
However, if I just let my imagination run wild, if I return to the belief that a genie could grant what I truly wanted… these would be my holiday wishes. (I’m giving myself five, because I get to make up the rules. And although two of them are not possible now or in the near future, I plan to live to be very old…so those of you in control have lots of time to work this out.)
1. I wish I could spend one Christmas with all of my children in the same house at the same time.
2. I wish I could spend one Christmas in Monterey, CA.
3. I wish I could build a better park for the children of Caddo.
4. I wish I could buy an acre of land for my dream garden.
5. I wish I could give all of my children the gift of peace, health, and joy.
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