The Day After Christmas

It almost seems traditional for people to reflect on some of the lesser-known attributes of the Christmas season the day after the big day.

In today's New York Times, Maureen Dowd observes that "When consumerism curdles, it’s tempting to become an emotional Marxist about Christmas. Not Karl. Groucho."

When Groucho Marx and Christmas are mentioned in the same breath, you know you're in for something.

Actually, it was kind of a sneaky way to work in Caroline Kennedy's book, "A Family Christmas," a collection of all sorts of holiday stories, poems, songs, etc., into the column.

Ms. Kennedy says the book continued her mother's holiday tradition. Jackie Kennedy wrote holiday poems for her mother, and Ms. Kennedy and her brother wrote holiday poems for Jackie.

Dowd remarks that she found a 1953 letter from Groucho to Fred Allen in Kennedy's book, and she goes on to speculate that just about everyone would have a holiday tale to contribute to the book.

Her story, Dowd said, would be about Trigger, "one of those wooden horses that bounced on springs." It was a gift she received as a little girl, one that she clearly treasured.

But one day, Dowd says, she awoke to find the horse was gone. Her mother, who experienced the loss of her father at the age of 12, had been touched by the sight of a young boy who "stared longingly at the horse" when he and his mother passed the house. Dowd's mother gave the horse to the child.

It took several years for Dowd to learn what her mother's generous gesture really meant.

"Her lesson was lovely: that materialism and narcissism can only smother life -- and Christmas -- if you let them," Dowd writes.

It's a lesson we would do well to remember, even if Christmas has come and gone.