Yesterday I was sitting at my kitchen table digging in my purse, looking for any and every last penny I could find. I had no Christmas gifts and apparently no money. As I was just thinking, "Oh, crap", the phone rang. It was a constable and my first thought with 3(amazing) teenagers was, "Oh no, what did they do?" (I should have more faith). He introduced himself and said that they collect a hamper every year for a needy family. This year they chose us.
At 10:30 this morning I was delivered the biggest Christmas hamper I have ever seen. There were 6 boxes of groceries, a huge turkey, chocolates, grocery gift cards and presents for the kids. I was almost in tears with gratitude and I almost made the constable cry! I definitely saw wet eyes.
The gifts were more than I've ever been able to afford for my kids, ever. I'm not even sure what their reaction will be to all that? I'm not the biggest believer in material things (convenient since we are money challenged) but I have to admit, I'm sick of not being able to splurge on them. I wanted so desperately to splurge on them this year. Cancer makes you desperate sometimes.
One of my sons reaction to all the food was that he felt bad, that there were others so much worse off then us. I'm glad that I've done such a good job shielding them from the harsh realities of our situation. Kids should be allowed to be kids at Christmas.
He also said people are out of money because of us. I explained to him that people feel joy in helping others and many people are able to give. We've always tried to help others but now we are the "others".
I am so thankful for the generosity and support of everyone who has helped my family. This year, without people, we would not have made it through. Thanks to people I've never met, my kids are going to be spoiled to bits! For a day I can forget how hard things are.
I'm not ready to cave and move in with my parents yet.
6 comments:
Awwwwwww!!! I love this story!! I'm so glad you got a little Christmas miracle! :)
I miss you, I feel like I owe you a phone call soon... but tonight I'm going to see the movie PS I Love You - because I LOVE chick flicks, and I even more love the name - it's almost like I wrote it!
XO
That really warms my heart!
I hope you have much joy, love and laughter this Christmas!
Blessings,
a.r.treasurefield
treasurefield.blogspot.com
I had never seen food hampers like that...and the look on your boys face as they both hid what they wanted to eat...cute
Yes, they are like squirrels.
I’m sitting here with tears in my eyes, that very same thing happened to us when I was diagnosed with cancer. Someone whom I didn’t even know put our name in with their company and they showed up with food for two months, toys for the kids, Bibles for each one of the kids, and a gift certificate to our locale grocery store.
I hope you and your family have a very Merry Christmas…
That's why I love Christmas - in the midst of mad commercialism lies true generosity and good will. Merry Christmas to you all :)
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