Yesterday was exciting because I began reading a new book. A new book is always full of promise. Not all those promises are kept, but sometimes I can tell a book is going to keep its promise. This new book is going to do that, I think.

The book is A Secret Gift. The subtitle is, “How One Man’s Kindness — and a Trove of Letters — Revealed the Hidden History of the Great Depression.” It was written by a man who inherited a suitcase full of ancient letters that had been written to a man named “Mr. B. Virdot.”

There was no “Mr. B. Virdot.” It was a name that the author’s grandfather, Sam Stone, made up from the names of his own daughters, Barbara, Virginia, and Dorothy (Dot). The author remembered his grandfather as a wealthy man, but he wasn’t always wealthy. In fact, things had happened to him that might embitter a lesser man.

At one point in his youth, Sam Stone saved up enough money to buy a new suit. It was given to him in a suitcase, and when he got home he found that the suitcase was empty except for a brick. Instead of letting this experience sour him, he let it inspire him. He eventually went on to own a chain of clothing stores, and he had suits everywhere he looked.

Sam Stone tried to remember the good things that happened to him, but he shoved painful memories aside. He lived by this quotation:

He wasn’t rich during the Great Depression, but he had more money than others. For some reason he decided that the people of his hometown of Canton, Ohio, needed a little boost right before Christmas in 1933, and he took out an ad that invited people to write to him and tell him their stories. He would pick out the best 75 letters and give each of those families ten dollars, which was about $200 in today’s money.

He received so many letters that he ended up giving five dollars to 150 families that Christmas. The very knowledge that somebody in Canton cared enough to do this during such a horrible time lifted not just those 150 families, but the whole town. Even those families who did not receive the money were inspired by the knowledge that somebody knew their sorrows, and that he cared.

That’s as far as I’ve gotten. The rest of the book is going to center on the grandson’s discovery of those letters and what they contained. He is going to interview the survivors of those families and learn how they survived the Great Depression. This should be an informative history book, especially because many of the people who read it have never gone without. The stories in The Secret Gift should remind us to always be grateful for what we have.

But I want to focus today, just for a moment, on how much good one person can do just by empathizing with the problems of others. As we approach the end of the year, with all the joy it can bring, there are so many gifts we can give the people around us. Not all of them are wrapped in shiny paper and tied up in bows. Other gifts that may be even more important are the gifts of sympathy and empathy and a listening ear.

The people who need our help this year may be close friends or mild acquaintances or family members, or they may be people we don’t even like. But, like all of us, they need a kind word, a good example, a warm smile, or some other gentle reminder that they are noticed, and that they are important, and that the people around them care about their welfare.

Whether we are rich or poor, this is a gift we all can give. Here’s hoping that I remember this lesson throughout the upcoming holidays, and that the people around me are better off because they know me. If all of us make the same commitment, this could be a Christmas season we will long remember.