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Notes from a Garage

With John Gardiner

Christmas week, a little about Sam Kinsman, one magic Christmas and remembering the less fortunate......

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Hi there and back for another week! And it's Christmas week! How did it get here so fast? And it'll be over befoe we know it because that's the way it always is. Still, I look forward to the season – the time with family – the time away from the regular rigamarole (good word not sure of the spelling).. It is a good time of year as long as we keep it in perspective – know that it is the time of year for helping others less fortunate than ourselves. And there are plenty of those in this day and age. Here's a little story for you about my friend, Sam.

Sam Kinsman came into my life about the same time as my first marraige collapsed. I was pretty much by myself in Wallaceburg – not too many friends and no family except a couple of young kids – I was really alone. Sam became my best friend in life during those days – the junior reporter at the Wallaceburg News and a bit of a hard luck story himself. Didn't make very good money so was always broke – his glasses were always broke – his car was always broke – yes, he was always broke. Well, back in 1991, I was dating my wife, Carol, so when I had the chance to go to the big Kinsmen $3,000 Draw or spend time with Carol, I chose Carol. Well, the long and short of it was that Sam went to the Kinsmen Draw and won the whole $3,000 grand prize. Wow! He called me about midnight to tell me – man, was he excited! Anyway, we divided up the money among the 10 permanent employees at the Wallaceburg News, meaning we each got $300. I couldn't wait to get my money – couldn't wait to use it to buy gifts for my kids for Christmas – had all kinds of plans for the money. Much to my surprise, my good friend sam took his money and walked it over to the Salvation Army. "This money can help others more than it can help me," he said quietly when questioned about his actions. At first, I was actually angry at him. I could not figure out why he would do such a thing. Of course, I have since come to realize that Sam really had the true spirit of Christmas inside him – better to give than to receive – only he really believed it. I ended up marrying my sweetheart and Sam passed away soon after that – long before his time. But he taught me the meaning of charity that Christmas after we won the $3,000 Draw. That it doesn't matter how low you're down – you can always help others. Something to live by.

Another Christmas, shortly after my first marriage broke up, I had a truly magical time. I ended up at Christmas all by myself, my children with ther mother, and me on my own. I finished work on the afternoon on Christmas Eve and got in my car and headed for Hanover. That evening, Christmas Eve, I found myself standing in the family church pew at Trinity United Church with my mother and father – just the three of us. Then, I went home to the house at 436 6th Avenue where I had grown up and slept the night in my old room and in my old bed. I got up Christmas morning with Mom and Dad and quietly opened a few gifts and had a quiet breakfast. I went home that Christmas, and even though people say you can't ever go home, I went home. I was there for just that one Christmas again when I was an adult. It is one of my fondest memories of a Christmas in my life. It covered me in warmth and comfortableness the way only home can.

As I write this, I feel for the poor and downtrodden and unhappy and sick and the tired and weak in the world. And I wish I could do more. I wish I could somehow reach out my arms and embrace all of them and hold them safe. That would be my wish for this Christmas – that every single person on the planet could be safe from harm. In fact, over the last little while, I've come to the conclusion that we will have little to celebrate on Spaceship Earth until every soul that enters it is guaranteed the basic fundamentals of life. And we can do what we like and we can say what we like, but it won't be enough until every single person on the planet is safe. Do what you can to make it happen – even if it's something that seems tiny and insignificant. My Christmas wish this year is for the people of the world to start to realize their true potential – to make the world a caring and compassionate place where all are welcome regardless of race, colour or creed. I don't care what Bill Gates, Oprah, Bono and whoever else are doing – it ain't enough. And you read that here first!

Merry Christmas to all my faithful readers. Paper will be late next week as I make merry with the family in Hanover for a day and celebrate my birthday. Remember the less fortunate and remember, "Hew to the line; let the chips fall where they may."



John Gardiner is a 25-year-veteran of the community newspaper business, but he is also a prolific writer of moralistic short fiction he refers to as "emotional thoughtscapes" or "adult fables". Samples of his fiction can be found at:

He has also produced a noteworthy piece of humanist philosophy which can be found at: http://www.xs4all.nl/~aboiten/ad502.htm He welcomes comments on his work.