The Magic of Christmas!

Admittedly, I’ve been having a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit this year. But yesterday when I came home and found an unexpected box on my doorstep, I remembered what the “magic of Christmas” is supposed to feel like.

The box was from a lovely couple, Julie and Tom, (names changed for privacy) who live in Colorado and just adopted two of our ForPaws Pembroke Puppies, Dodge and Viola. They’ve been keeping us updated with photos and e-mail. Truly, I can’t possibly imagine that these two dogs could have a better home. This, in and of itself, is a great gift and we are just thrilled for the dogs and humans alike.

Inside the box were a number of items, starting with this card. I was really touched that they’d sent a gift, but I was knocked over by the card. When I opened it, here’s what I read (click to enlarge image):

In the card was a check – a very generous donation. I was absolutely stunned. With all that is going on in the economy these days, donations are few and far between and smaller than usual. This was truly wonderful!

But it goes on…inside the box was a bag of dog treats, which attracted Sage’s attention, a box of people treats, and two wrapped packages. The first one I opened was the official Christmas Photo of Dodge, Viola and their new family, nicely framed. They had a professional photographer take incredibly great pictures that they used on their Christmas cards this year. They were some of the best dog photos I’ve ever seen! But it was the very last gift that just took my breath away:

The last gift was this gorgeous shiny silver angel ornament, engraved especially for me! It took me a few seconds to realize that I was just standing there with my mouth open after I opened it. It has been a very long time since I received such a thoughtful and perfect gift. This is something that will forever remind me of the experience we’ve had with these wonderful people and their loving relationship with their dogs and with us. In the moment that I stood there, not quite believing what I was seeing, I realized that the awe that I was feeling was indeed, the “Magic of Christmas.”