By Southern Hands
An unexpected request.
Christmas is a season of joy, celebration, and the remembrance of the miraculous birth of Jesus Christ. And yet, the true meaning so easily slips beneath layers of wrapping paper, crowded calendars, and well-intentioned chaos. Christmas is deeper than anything that can be purchased. It lives in family and friendship, in rituals passed hand to hand, heart to heart—traditions that connect us to those who came before us and gently shape those who come after.
I have a family photograph taken just a few years ago, with nearly thirty of us standing together in front of our home in North Carolina. We are close, shoulder to shoulder, smiling into the future. Today, only four of us remain. Time has a way of changing everything, often without warning, quietly rewriting the story.
Looking back is bittersweet, but it is also beautiful. Gratitude and longing coexist this time of year, and Christmas holds space for both. It is a season that calls us not only to celebrate, but to care—to love others not simply when it feels generous or festive, but when it is most needed.
The greatest gift we can give at Christmas is our love, freely offered, and our service, humbly given. And the greatest gift we have ever received came in the simplest way imaginable—not wrapped in ribbon or paper, but laid in a manger, offered to the world in quiet grace.
Until this weekend, I had avoided all holiday baking. I had every reason—too much to do, not enough energy, a hundred small excuses. Then, while talking with my daughter on the phone, I heard a small voice in the background ask, “Is Grandma going to bring her pound cake this year?”
In that instant, something shifted.
Often, we don’t realize what children are holding onto. They remember what made them feel safe, loved, and at home. Of all the memories this season could leave behind, it was the pound cake that stayed with him—and that realization filled my heart.
So now, I will share it with all of you. It is simple, familiar, and quietly exquisite. Because sometimes the most meaningful gifts are not grand or complicated. Sometimes they are made with butter and sugar, memory and love—and passed down, one slice at a time.
And that, to me, is the truest taste of Christmas.
Cream Cheese Pound Cake - a treasured recipe from Savannah’s well-loved, Minette Rushing. I might add - not only well-loved but famous and fabulous!
Thank you, Minette. (recipe below)
