Maps at Christmas

“What are you doing, Vince?”  I asked.  Vince seemed to be drawing a map, which wasn’t unusual, but above it, he had written something that looked suspiciously like a letter.

“I’m writing a letter to the Virginia Department of Transportation,” Vince told me.

“Really?”  I asked him.  “How do you know their address?”

“It’s right here,” he said, indicating the back of a map of Virginia lying on the table beside him. 

“They put the address for people to send suggestions to them.  I’m writing them a letter suggesting that they send me a map of Campbell County.

“I guess that makes sense,” I said, hoping that Vince’s hopes weren’t dashed when he didn’t get an answer from the folks at VDOT.

In the following days, Vince waited anxiously for the mail, hoping for an answer to his suggestion.  Each day, his hopes went down just a little bit more until one day, about ten days after he sent his letter off to Richmond, a fat envelope arrived.

“Dear Vincent Waldron (not John or Elaine),” the accompanying letter read.  “Thank you for the lovely letter and the drawing.  I have included some maps and goodies that can help you learn more and more about Virginia!”

There in the envelope were a couple of maps of Campbell County, but there were other maps of Virginia, a multi color highlighter, and some antiseptic hand spray.  Vince was thrilled beyond words.

I was thrilled too.  I don’t know what nice woman opened Vince’s letter and sensed a boy with an interest in maps, but she couldn’t have known how pleased she would make him through those maps and odds and ends.  It truly made his day.

Christmas time is a time when we give things to other people.  We plan out in advance the stuff we are going to give and when all else fails, we fall back on the tried and true gift cards.

But many times, the things that make the biggest difference are the little thoughtful things we do for others -- a kind word, or a complement.  It only takes a little thought and effort and it lifts someone else's spirits, like maps in the mail to a ten year old budding cartographer.