Have you ever wondered why or what made gift giving a cherished tradition during Christmas? Well, most would attribute it to the legend of the Three Magi bearing gifts for the Child Jesus.

But a quick background search on Google reveals a different origin. Apparently, the tradition of giving gifts was a pagan Roman ritual during the celebration in honor of Saturn, the heathen Roman god of agriculture, in thanksgiving for the bountiful harvest of the season past and for good fortune for the coming year. This bacchanalian festivity would take place during the winter solstice over seven days towards the end of the year from 17 to 23 December and it persisted up to the 4th century until Christmas became the highlight of the season as Christianity took hold.

Christmas became a time to remember Jesus and to celebrate God-centered relationships with family, friends and loved ones. Christmas presents are meant to convey love, affection, goodwill and fellowship towards fellow men through a well thought-out gift that would surprise and delight the loved ones and other recipients.

It was towards this end that the Rotary Anns, the real movers and shakers behind the success of the menfolk of the Rotary Club of Makati, initiated some 25 years ago a gift-giving project, The Last Angel.

In 1998, Rotary Ann Brin Panlilio, the better half of the incoming Club president PE Tito Panlilio, was moved by a beautiful true story she read in Readers’ Digest called, The Last Angel, to rally the Anns behind the project.

Allow me to share in its entirety what Brin read that inspired her and, soon after, to this day, continues to inspire the RCM Rotarians and their Anns about the heartwarming tale of Cyndi, the last angel.

With a bit of research, I discovered that the author of the short story was an unknown Charles Sparrenberger who apparently wrote it as an inspirational Christmas message. He was a reputable lawyer and a World War II veteran who was a partner in a leading firm in Evansville, Indiana in 1954, Fine, Hatfield, Sparrenberger & Fine.

The soul-stirring story.

“Leaving O’Hare Airport last 1 December, I was seated beside a smiling woman in her early 60s. She was bound for Denver and I, San Francisco. Smartly dressed, she was holding the most beautiful angel doll I had ever seen. It was the perfect conversation opener and by the time we reached her destination, I had enjoyed the most unusual story. Let me share it with you.”

Each Christmas, she told me a department store in Chicago put up an angel tree, a Christmas tree decorated with nothing but hundreds of white paper angels. On each of the angels the store printed the first name and age of an unprivileged youngster in need of a remembrance at Christmas.

Christmas presents are meant to convey love, affection, goodwill and fellowship towards fellow men through a well thought-out gift that would surprise and delight the loved ones and other recipients.

Customers choose an angel, purchase an appropriate gift anywhere they wish and return it to the store for free gift-wrapping and delivery on Christmas Eve. This woman had noticed the tree a dozen times, and each time she made a mental note to select a child’s name but as often happens, she never got around to it.

Then on Christmas Eve one year, she went to the store to look for a last-minute gift. And there stood the tree, now bare. Well, not quite, for above her line of vision, toward the back of the tree, was the last angel. She stood on tiptoe, took it, and read: “Cyndi.” Unless she moved swiftly, this child would not have a Christmas present this year.

Hurrying to a nearby toy store, she bought an angel doll, the last in the store, and returned, only to learn that, although the clerk would gladly gift wrap the toy, it was too late to have it delivered. But the clerk gave her the child’s address, and she was soon on her way across town to deliver the present. (To be continued)