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• Then she became concerned, and prodded me a little, "Are you all right?" She said it with a deep sense of genuine concern. I knew I owed her an explanation for the collapse of my bodily activities.
• "Nothing wrong with me," I explained, "I'm just broke." With that, I smiled a rather infectious smile.
• She broke out laughing and said, "What did you say?"
• I think at the time she thought I was just exercising the spirit of merriment. "I said, I'm broke."
• Then she had a look of concern on her face. "What do you mean you're broke?"
• I knew she was concerned at that point and I had to explain to her what I meant by being broke. By being broke, I do not mean like the government broke into my bank account and confiscated my money. For all Americans that is quite a taxing situation.
• Also, by being broke I do not mean I dropped my wife's favorite porcelain teapot and broke it all over the floor. Once something is broke, there just is no way of fixing it.
• "I'm broke," I repeated to my wife with a whimsical smile, "and it's a real good feeling this time of the year."
• She looked at me, shook her head and then went back to her business.
• I thought some more on that subject and reaffirmed my idea that being broke this time of the year was a marvelous feeling. If it were April, tax time, being broke would not feel so good. Or, if it were before Christmas, being broke would not be a very good idea.
• Being broke after Christmas means several things.
• First, it means that I did my best to bless my family and friends around me with

tokens of appreciation. That is all a gift really is. I am not a very good gift buyer, just ask my wife. I am the kind of person who thinks it is the thought that counts. I also know, behind every thought must be some emblem of tangibility. I have done my best this year to select gifts that would be appreciated, at least for a moment.
• It would be a terrible thing at the end of the Christmas season to have a ton

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