I am BEYOND excited to create a Christmas book reading event with the help of a group of local parents. Because of their generosity and kindness, we are able to provide food, drink, and an arts and crafts activity to children and families.

The idea to create the event came last week when I took my son to a local Barnes & Noble which was hosting its first reading since the Covid lockdown. A staff member was reading “The Polar Express” to the kids, while the others served them hot cocoa and cookies. How lovely! I thought to myself, “I want to read, too!”

My dad used to tell me that how he and his friends would gather under a tree as a child to listen to a man from his village who read books to them. That was part of their entertainment. The image of his younger self has always stuck in my mind.

He is in his 80s now. We have all witnessed how digital entertainment has altered human social interactions. In one way, technology has brought us closer together. In another way, it has separated us.

Something magical happens when we come together.

I had the idea to create the event on Saturday morning and I put some feelers out to a local Facebook parent group. Many parents volunteered to help. By Monday afternoon, we finalized our plan.

What a perfect timing to forge new connections before we welcome the new year.

While we have seen so many hardships and challenges brought on by Covid and conflicts that are happening around the world, it is those seemingly small gestures and the show of kindness and generosity that gives me so much optimism and hope for the future.

My heart is filled with gratitude. I feel so blessed.

We are going to have a blast!

With much love, peace and joy, ❤️