From The Editor ... Thoughts that count

Christmas arrives tomorrow, bringing a time to remember the reason for the season and show our appreciation for the ones we love. It also brings a reprieve to the gift buying season that started with Black Friday and possibly earlier. I’ve already opened a few

I’ve already opened a few gifts since I had an early Christmas weekend with my girlfriend due to conflicting schedules around the holiday. As I opened one of her gifts to me, I was reminded of the old adage, “It’s the thought that counts.”

Children are often told this by panicked parents when they see their sullen child opening a bad present in front of the person that gave it to them. “It’s the thought that counts.

“It’s the thought that counts. Now thank Aunt Marjorie for the hedgehog pajamas.”

As I get older, I realize there’s a lot of value in the saying. It just has an unfortunate negative connotation.

Yes, the thought counted when I opened the gift and the gift was that much better because of how much thought was put into it.

I had already presented Wyndi with an Echo Show for her main Christmas gift as purchasing a pair allows us to easily video chat with each other and assure her that I’m only a call away even if we live four hours apart. There were a few other smaller gifts after that for her to open.

She presented me with a 15-movie boxset of Alfred Hitchcock movies on Blu-ray. As a film fan who grew up on Hitchcock movies, I rightly assumed this was the big present. She then got me a board game based on “The Shining,” one of my all-time favorite movies and I thought okay that gets the big presents out of the way.

The last present was much smaller and I opened it to reveal... a calendar.

The top image of a Nativity was very unassuming but the first page featured pictures of me and one of my best friends with a quote. As I flipped from month-to-month, I saw the work that Wyndi had put into assembling a present that chronicled us getting back together and memories we shared. Then I got to July.

I stared dumbfounded at a picture of me and Dad when I was seven next to shots of my grandparents and my parent’s wedding on a page dedicated to family. Wyndi revealed that she had

Wyndi revealed that she had called a friend locally to get photos and they had contacted my Dad who presented them with all the photos they would want.

Wyndi spared me including the embarrassing pictures although she immediately started showing them to me, laughing at shots like my entry into the Cinderfella pageant.

She looked very unsure as I got silent while looking through the calendar, but I told her how thoughtful the gift was. The thought does count.

Gaudette is the managing editor at the Dublin Citizen and can be reached at 445-2515 and publisher@dublincitizen.com.