This is a difficult question for most of us to even contemplate, much less answer. It is not common for a person to know that his or her days are indeed numbered. Sure, we are all going to die someday, but the vast majority of us have no idea when that will be. I can think of three examples of men who have known. I know very little about two of the three.
One of those men is Randy Pausch. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and given a very brief time to live. With his last months, one of the things he did was put together his last lecture. It was turned into a book, and I have it recommended on my good reads page. In the book, he talks about spending his time making memories with his kids and his wife. That seems to be a good way to spend one last Christmas.
Steve Jobs also had pancreatic cancer. I don't know much of anything about Steve Jobs except that he poured his energy into his work and creative process up to the end. At least, that is what I gathered from mainstream media coverage of his last few months.
The third man was also dealing with cancer. He was an uncle of mine. I got to see how he spent his last months. He spent time with his wife and daughters. He laughed. He played cards. He didn't suddenly stop living and curl up into a ball of self-pity. He didn't hide away from friends and family. He knew that he was facing the end, and he faced it with more grace and dignity than I think I possess. He lived long enough to see his older daughter married. He spent as much time as he could with those he loved. And in the end, he died with family next to him.
So what would you do if it was your one last Christmas? What would you do if you knew the end was near? How would you spend the last few months or weeks or your life? Most of us will never know that we are facing our last Christmas. For me, that suggests that I need to think about how I would want to spend my last days and make sure that I spend all of my days that way. I have no idea when I will be facing my last days, so I need to make them all count.