Tuesday, January 12, 2010

# charity # christmas

Christmas Angels

I bet everyone was thinking I would forget to write this post, but no, I hadn't. I think I was just waiting for the right time to write it. Tonight seems like the perfect night. I was sitting here feeling sorry for myself that Peter gave Ben Red Lobster and Guitar Hero 5 for his birthday and all I have for him is a cd and maybe some $5 pizza from Little Caesars. Then, Justin called me and reminded me how many times Ben asked for that cd and how much he loves the time that I give him. He's right. Even though I feel bad that I can't give him everything he asks for, I give him things that he will remember for the rest of his life. He'll remember Mom's Wow board where I post his hard work. He'll remember our movie nights and how mom tucked him in every night.

So, instead of feeling sorry for myself, I'm going to focus on the good things in my life and one ...or half a dozen of those wonderful people in my life. As a lot of you know, I'm not working a full time job right now and it was looking as if Christmas was going to be impossible this past year. I posted something here to my blog and I asked on my favorite yahoogroup how much money I could get if I sold my Pazzles. I was willing to give it up if it meant giving my boys a good Christmas.

Well, I didn't have to sell it. Six different people/groups stepped up and prevented that. I was totally blown away by their generosity and the love that they shared with us in a year where I know that money was tight for so many people. People can be totally amazing if you only give them a chance. Even now, almost a month later, I'm totally in awe of these people.

So, to Klo who sent not just my boys, but me as well gift cards, thank you. We decided, as a family, to add them to our Wii fund. We've been saving for a long time and your addition was exciting for us.

To Corinna, who along with her husband, sent the boys books and movies, thank you.

To Jim, who bought our family a gift package to the "local" theatre, thank you! We went to see Alvin & The Chimpunks, the Squeakuel right after Christmas and loved it. The gift card covered everything for all of us to go.

To Justin, who sent us some money to buy special gifts, thank you.

And last, but certainly not least, to Valerie, a woman who I have never met for the incredible gift of money that you sent to us. I have never been so incredibly touched by a stranger. She somehow came across this blog and based just on what she read here, she sent us an incredible gift.

I know I just said last, but I do want to extend one more thank you out there. To the people who donate to Toy for Tots or to the Salvation Army toy drive, I want to thank all of you. We were one of the families that benefited from that this year.

Like I said, the generosity of people amazes me and humbles me. I've worked at teaching my children the joy that can come from giving to others. They don't see a Salvation Army red bucket without asking me for change because in their words, "they help people who need help." Little did they know that those people were us this year. I've heard it said "when your hand is open to give, it is also open to receive" and it seems that is exactly what happened.

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm very glad I could help!

Corinna

Jim said...

Glad to be able to help!

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