The Best Gift of All Time by Desi Cammuso
We can all agree that the best part about Winter is the Christmas season. Actually, let me rephrase that statement. The best part of the year is the Christmas season. How can it not? For many of us, the magic can’t be felt soon enough. The decorations cannot come out fast enough. The music is required to be blaring on the radio the day after what other holiday again? Sorry Thanksgiving. Don’t feel bad. We’re not making fun of you Thanksgiving; we don’t like to celebrate you as much as Christmas. Hey, somebody had to say it. Besides, Thanksgiving probably already knows they get overshadowed by Christmas every year.
OK, moving on, I have a question: what is the best gift you can give someone? Really think for a minute.
Expensive gifts can get your loved ones excited for only a few hours. Or if they’re not into material gifts, they would love a little something made with your own two hands. While homemade gifts are more special than store-bought gifts, one gift that we need to start giving each other is using our voices to sit down and have a genuine two-way conversation. Not just this holiday season but all throughout the year because In my personal opinion, that’s the best gift you could give someone. You better grab some tissues because this message will probably make you cry.
Before I make you ball your eyes out, let’s joke about how all the Christmas lovers drive the “let’s get through Thanksgiving first” people up a wall by playing their favorite song on repeat. You see, everyone can have their own timeline when it comes to listening to Christmas Music. But if Christmas is your favorite holiday and if you don’t drink coffee in the morning, you need Christmas Music all year round to keep you from going insane on somebody. Can we be honest for a hot moment? It’s a massive, crazy world out there, and how do you think I function every day without morning coffee? That’s right. I need “Up on the housetop” to defuse my rage at the incompetent people I see on TicTok mostly. Don’t judge people who want to listen to “Deck the Halls” on the beach in July without criticism. OK, maybe even I’m a little too extreme for Christmas lovers. This is why I ended up at the Bristol Center.
Enough about me and my loveable strangeness. Let me give you some pointers on why I believe talking should be on everyone’s list this year. To understand my answer, let’s touch on the magic that Christmas brings. People tend to associate Christmas magic with believing in Santa Claus. Adults, as well as children, get excited about having their Christmas wishes granted by Old Saint Nick himself. I personally wrote a letter and asked for something special this year, although I am probably on the naughty list for harassing the staff at CW. Conversation for another day.
While Santa’s magic makes the season special, the love, warmth, and support we all give each other around this time are what make the season special. Christmas trees, lights, and eggnog raise great spirits in our families and communities. We seem kinder to each other and are willing to really sit down and talk. Here’s where you want your tissues because this is the perfect gift for anyone in your life who is going through a difficult time.
Through the past year, I’ve started to really learn about life at the age of twenty-three. You might be saying to yourself, “Kid, you have not seen anything yet. Wait until you’re my age.” While they may be right in many ways. I know what it is like to not be able to say something meaningful to the people that I love and appreciate in a moment when they are at their lowest point. As many of you know, I lost the ability to speak at birth. I am stuck typing every single thing I say on my iPad, and even though I adapted, it takes me time to say I love you to my mother or thank you to a waitress for bringing my food over. Unfortunately, some wishes are impossible for Santa to grant, so I just have to accept them and move forward as best as I can, which I have done. But once in a blue moon, it makes me so upset because the only gift I wanted for my whole life is the one that people aren’t able to give me. But I don’t feel sorry for myself, and I try to find ways to cope.
One way I cope with my situation is by reminding myself that the time it takes me to type is when I can figure out how to say something in the best way. You see, my struggles with speech doesn’t always have to be a curse. It also can be a superpower in a way and help me see things that others don’t. Typing everything to talk gives me a whole different perspective on communication itself. As I go through life without a voice, I notice more and more how people who actually have this luxury don’t always use it, or they haven’t learned how to use it properly. When there is a problem at work or with their family or when people are going through a rough patch, the people they love sometimes end up being silent and don’t say everything that should be said even though it takes them two seconds to open their mouths.
What inspires me to write this story is that I’ve noticed when people are at work and have a problem with something or someone, the workers always don’t talk it out. They hold such anger and resentment. That, in return, creates a hostile environment for everyone, and nobody wants to come back. Let me paint a picture. In today’s society, we are always in a hurry all the time, especially if you’re in charge of a massive company like CW Resources. Despite never being a boss or a manager of any sort, I have witnessed situations where this occurred. Bosses just have so much in their brains and they’re trying to get a million and one things done at a time. They need everything and everyone to go right because they can’t afford to take time away from accomplishing their seven other tasks. When this tiny thing goes wrong due to not communicating with anyone about what they need to do, they get mad and unconsciously take their frustration out on the employee whom they should have communicated with in the first instance. Their employee feels attacked by this and that creates a lot of resentment and frustration towards their boss and in a relationship. This doesn’t only apply to work. It applies to family as well as any relationship really.
Sometimes we are so caught up in our own struggles and challenges that we seem to forget how to talk to one another. It’s funny to me that while the holidays are seen as a stressful time, people are much more willing to have a genuine connection and come back together to work out their differences. There’s a song from the TV show Heartland called “Walk Me Over the Bridge.” Although it applies to a husband and wife needing to talk their issues out, it applies to everyone who has problems in their relationship. It is easy to be angry and blame people for the problems within any group of people. But, it takes a big person to use the gift of their voice and say let’s sit down and talk about this. To someone who doesn’t feel heard, that could be the most valuable gift they receive from you this Christmas. Even if you say to someone who is suffering, are you ok, beats anything that you could buy or make for Christmas?
I encourage everyone to reread this message again and again to understand how having a genuine conversation with the people you love is the best Christmas Present of all time. I may not have my real voice, but my alternative voice has taught me how to speak better. People have told me that I articulate myself very well and I am very proud of myself for that. If the world learned how to talk better or listen better as my friend Bill says, it would be a better place to live for everyone. I don’t want my audience to just read this article and move on with the day. I want them to take this to heart and learn how to talk so they can make a better tomorrow for everyone.
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