Living Your Dream

Uncle Sam was not very well to do. Every year, he wore the same coat he had worn for his brother’s wedding twenty years ago but no one seemed to care. Uncle Sam was still the star of Christmas cheer and no family gathering could be complete without him. Uncle Sam was by no means ordinary. He lived his life on his terms and everybody saluted him for that.

When he was thirteen, Uncle Sam said that he was going to finish college at sixteen. He did. He loved building things and loved to carve with wood. He made his living making tiny thermacol replicas for architects. Uncle Sam had only one dream and that was to see the whole world. Every year he worked eight months, traveled three months and visited family for one month. He saw three different countries each year and spent one month in each country and during the holidays, he would regale his family with tales of his travels. He didn’t have a fancy house or a fancy car. He didn’t believe in buying expensive things. All he wanted was to have enough money to travel and see the world.

In his younger days everyone rebuked him for not being materialistic, for not settling down but now everybody respected him because he had been strong and courageous enough to follow his dream. Uncle Sam said that if you live your dream then you are a happy person and when you are happy you make other people happy too. Every Christmas we end with singing three cheers for Uncle Sam and his dream.