Merry Christmas! Our offices are closed today (Thursday, December 25) in recognition of the holiday. From our family to yours, we wish you a joyous Christmas and happy New Year!
By Stephanie Kohl, Customer Experience Manager
As the mom of a seven-year-old, there is something so special about this time of year. My son is still young enough that he believes in Santa, though old enough to start asking questions about how exactly Santa gets to everyone’s houses in one night. We lean heavily on the magic of Christmas in our house. And while he appreciates the gifts that Santa leaves under the tree for him, his favorite part of Christmas is our family Christmas Eve party. Surrounded by Christmas cookies, a lighted tree, his cousins and a mountain of presents, he is anxious not just for what he unwraps, but to see his cousins open up the presents he picked out for each of them. He spends a lot of time thinking about his cousins and their interests and shopping online with mom or crafting at the kitchen table to come up with the perfect thing for each of them. And his cousins do the same for him. My favorite gift to watch him open was one his older cousin picked out for him at his school’s Holiday Shop - a pink M & M pen. My son loved it! After all, pink is his favorite color, which his cousin knew; M & M is his favorite candy, which his cousin knew; and he loves to draw so always has a pen or pencil at hand, which his cousin knew. His cousin was also so excited to see how happy the pen made Allen. That was gift giving done well! A gift doesn’t have to be some super expensive, hard to find item. It can be a pen in the person’s favorite color, repping their favorite candy, to use doing one of their favorite activities. He used that pen until it ran dry, even after the M & M topper fell off.
As the year winds down and we prepare for 2026, one of the greatest gifts we get is another year - another Spring, another Summer, another Fall, another birthday, another school year, another, another, another. It is with a full heart that I look forward to another.
Wishing you a very merry Christmas and the happiest New Year!