Be a Santa to a Senior

So one thing that I should have included in my Blackjack list of rando facts about me is that I have a total soft spot for seniors.  This goes back to as far as I can remember...my earliest memory was when I was about 7, and we were at the hospital visiting my grandpa who was sick at the time, and this elderly man in the next bed said to us as we left "thanks for coming to see us!"  I clearly remember that it made me so sad that I cried, because I had the feeling that this guy had had no visitors and was really, really lonely.  This penchant for old folks continued on as I got older, as I spent a lot of time in old folks homes as Hubs' grandma lived in one in Vancouver and we would go see her quite often.  I was always struck by the lack of visitors and how lonely it must be and always left feeling sad.

Fast forward to today...I was sitting at my desk eating my lunch and cruising around on the internet when I saw this thing called Be a Santa to a Senior.  Intrigued, I looked into it further and discovered it's a program across North America that helps identify seniors who people can sponsor and buy a Christmas gift for.  Bingo!  Right up my alley.  What you do is punch in your postal or zip code, and up pops a list of participating retailers...each retailer has a tree with paper ornaments with the name of a senior and what they'd like for Christmas.  I immediately put in my postal code and the Walmart by our house was participating...excellent!

After work, Hubs and I went by good old Wallyworld and the tree was right at the front of the store.  There were only a handful of ornaments left, which completely warmed my heart that people were buying for the seniors!  That was quickly taken over by some serious verklemptness...as I looked at the names and what they were looking for, it made it extra personal and I couldn't leave anyone behind.  What if no one bought something for that person?  What if they got nothing and didn't have a gift to open on Christmas day?  I couldn't have that so I ended up taking all the ornaments.  Yes, I stripped that tree bare!  Poor Hubs, he just stood there trying to console his pathetic, sobbing wife...a few people in the store actual gave us curious looks...I think they thought we were having a big fight or something.  Ha!  Such a big bawl baby.

Anyways...thought I would post about this organization in case anyone is interested!  I know during this time of year that everyone is stretched pretty thin and so incredibly busy, but small gestures mean so much and every little bit helps those who are less fortunate.

HBBC:  Nov 27, 2 points (20 mins stationery bike, F/V), Nov 28, 5 points (1 hour bootcamp, F/V), Nov 30, 1 point (F/V), Dec 1, 2 points (20 mins stationery bike, F/V)