Golden nuggets in day-after debris

It's the morning after.

Maybe the living room is still littered with Christmas Day debris. The smell of roast turkey or ham lingers, mixed with the sweet scent of the last batch of Christmas cookies or pumpkin pie.

It's even possible that the excited squeals of your children or grandkids are echoing still, at least in your mind. Yesterday's frenzy and feast remain fresh; another Christmas has successfully been tucked into the memory banks.

Well done. Like Clark W. and Ellen Griswold, whisper proudly: We did it.

But now what? It's the morning after, and if that sense of accomplishment — at least getting through The Big Day in one piece — is also accompanied by a feeling of something much less, something approaching emptiness, think about this very unoriginal but extremely important suggestion:

All that work you put into ensuring familial joy is not done. Nor should it be limited to those closest to you.

That doesn't mean your credit card needs to keep working overtime. And it sure as heck isn't about accumulating more things.

What you've just experienced need not be a one-day-a-year ascension to the summit. The key word is experience — for you and all those with whom you come into contact.

If we can carry the Christmas joy-spreading experience with us the other 364 days of the year, starting today, think how much better our world would be.

End of The Day After lecture.

Start, we hope, of oh so many bright days ahead.