Friday, December 4, 2009

I love Christmas . . .

I love Christmas . . . I haven't always felt this way, it is something that I have had to find in my heart.  There were so many times in my life that I would dread Christmas, mostly because of the financial burden it put on me and my husband.  On the other hand, I have had many more wonderful and memorable Christmas', they were the ones that I did not stress over or overspend.  They were the Christmas' that we had very little, so we had to make it fun with what we had.   I have also had some really hard life lessons that have taught me that Christmas is what you make it,  it  truly is a wonderful time of year - for me, it makes me really think about the things that are important in my life.  And I promise you, it's not shiny packages under the tree. 

The worst - no - the saddest Christmas we ever had was the Christmas day that we took Averi (my granddaughter) who was only 4 months old at the time,  to Primary Children's hospital for a bone marrow transplant.  We left right after her mom and dad, her two younger siblings and my other two children opened their Christmas presents.  No one was really excited about it, but we did it for the little kids.   My daughter and her husband had to leave their other two children, ages 3 and 1 1/2 years, at home on Christmas day, not knowing whether or not they would come home again with their precious little baby - I can't even imagine what they must have been going through.  Averi was in the hospital for 6 months - Amber stayed with her the entire time - she did not come home for 6 months.  How easy could that have been?  I can't remember ever hearing her complain about having to be at the hospital with Averi - she knew where she had to be, and knew that her other children were being taken care of and loved.  I can honestly say that no one really even cared what they got for Christmas that year, it simply was not important.   The gift we all wanted was to have have Averi healthy and well!  Good news!!  She is a beautiful, healthy 7 year old!  Every year since that time, I think about that Christmas day - I remember the feelings I had of helplessness and worry for my precious little granddaughter and my own precious daughter.  Today,  I don't worry too much about gifts, because that year, we got the best gift, the life of our precious Averi.  Averi's brother, Christian, is the true hero of this story, he gave the ultimate gift, he was the bone marrow donor - a perfect match - he gave her the gift of life! We love you Christian!

I could write a book about this experience, but, my point is, that if you are hating Christmas this year,  remember, it could be worse - love Christmas for what it stands for, don't worry about things that you have no control over - make it a good Christmas for those around you.  Do special things with your family and enjoy the Spirit of Christmas.

Yesterday,  my daughters and two of my grandchildren crafted and had so much fun!  We are making the cutest Christmas signs and they turned out so good!




Then it was time to make cookies - I had promised Emily and she didn't let me forget!  She and Caleb had so much fun!  Caleb would put a cookie on the cookie sheet and then pick it up again and take a bite, then put it back again - sooo cute!  They were delicious and made with lots of  love and slobber!



Yum, yum!  What a perfect day

Blessings, Barb

2 comments:

Karen Beth said...

Oh my word. You are such a wonderful sister and such a wonderful example to me. Thank you so much for reminding me what is important. I need to take lessons from you. The signs are so cute, but the kids are cuter. Love you, Karen

The WIlloughby Family said...

Always makes me sad to think about! We are all stronger because of our sweet Averi. My testimony of miracles will always be strong and I know that she has a mission in this life and will go out and do great things!!!

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