I cannot tell a lie; to do an act of JOY around the holidays is pretty darn easy. I mean, just give someone a Christmas present, and you have given JOY.
For today’s act of JOY, I collected money from my four sisters to buy a gift card from Kohl’s (and who doesn’t find at least some kind of JOY shopping at Kohl’s), for Jill, our mother’s occasional companion.
Twice a week Jill shows up at my mom’s assisted living apartment. My mother has her mental list of activities, which always includes a trip to Walgreen’s (my Dad says our inheritance is slowly being spent at Walgreen’s). Then there is some kind of craft project, closet organizing, decorating the apartment, or whatever else my mom can cook up.
Jill does all these tasks with a smile on her face – I mean, literally, always a smile. She clearly loves my mom and my mom loves her.
It will give Jill much JOY to get a gift certificate. And doesn’t she deserve it? She gives my mom, and therefore us daughters, much JOY.