I was standing in the NVC parking lot during the recent Nisei Lunch, getting into the holiday spirit, greeting and helping the many NVC Foundation and NVC members park their cars.  I felt grateful as these Nisei and Sansei walked from the cold outside and into the warmth of a shared heritage and wafting aroma of a special meal inside.  I appreciated that these community members were really being taken care of.  I savored it, comparing it to what their families were going through eighty years ago.

The Holiday Season is a ripe time for being grateful and thankful. May we fully enjoy our friends and families with the caring spirit which pervades this time of year.  And in that same spirit, may we remember others who don’t share the same blessings as we have.  So many.  Among them are the hundreds of millions around the world, forced to relocate, forced to leave their homes, often ‘taking only what they can carry.’  As we bear witness, please consider expressing your Holiday Spirit with solidarity and kinship.  Groups such as the International Rescue Committee and Doctors without Borders would love to get a visit from you and Santa. 

Wishing you all Happy Holidays!