I received a call from an old friend this morning. I've known him now for over 40 years. When I was 20 years old I lived four months with he and his family in Dayton, Ohio while I attended Wright State University. The call was a simple, Merry Christmas call that caught us up on family and life in general. The call began to wind up with Bill telling me about all the times that he thinks about me, and how much he loves our family. The sentiment is mutual I expressed and we were able to exchange warm Christmas greetings. The call made my day.

I brought my Army son home from the airport Sunday evening. After a long flight home he relaxed in our family room as we caught up on small talk. Just the fact that he was in our home and was safe made my day.

A couple who works with us at our office came by our home last week bringing gifts. The gifts are beautiful but the effort they made to tell us how much they enjoy working with us and that they love their jobs still after seven years meant a lot.

We often make Christmas difficult. We stress ourselves out. We get into fiascos over gifts, travel, money and how to celebrate the holiday. The first Christmas was about the birth of a baby. People around the world have tried to find all kinds of ways to celebrate his birth for over 2,000 years. It's amazing how we sometimes mess up his birthday and the holiday.

This week try focusing on enjoying and loving people. It's often the simple conversations we have along the way that make our Christmas.

Glenn Mollette is an syndicated columnist and author of 11 books and read in all 50 states. This column does not necessarily reflect the view of any organization, institution or this paper or media source.