Cord Byrd: “Now, Mr. President, we are just a few days from Christmas, a few days from the morning when millions of children tumble…”

“Now, Mr. President, we are just a few days from Christmas, a few days from the morning when millions of children tumble out of their warm beds, awaken their parents, rush to the family room, and look, with gleeful delight, at the bows, the boxes, and the bundles under the tree. This is one of my favorite times of the year--a time of joy, a time of love, a time of family gatherings and warm memories. I remember the Christmas presents waiting for me when I was a boy back there during the Great Depression in the hard hills of Mercer County in southern West Virginia. There was not an electric light in the house--no electricity, no running water, but there was an orange or a drawing book or a set of pencils or a set of water colors, or a geography book that I had been wanting. My family did not have great material wealth, but we always had a wealth of love. The two old people who raised me, they are in Heaven tonight. They are in Heaven. We did not have fancy toys in those days. We celebrated the season for its true meaning: the birth of the Christ Child. Now, I respect every man's or woman's religion. I respect their religion. If it is Moslem, I respect their religion. I can listen to the prayers of any churchman or any layman. I can respect them all because who am I? I am unworthy of God's blessings. I can respect them. So my wife Erma and I have passed those lessons on to our children, our grandchildren, and our great-grandchildren.”