Angels Among Us:Christmas Write Off
Oct 23 '00
Let me set the stage. It’s December 1998. Our 16 week premature daughter (born November 6th) is in the hospital. I have been readmitted to hospital twice since her birth, having surgery on the second occasion. I am severely anemic, to the point of falling asleep in mid-sentence on occasion. My husband has missed so much work that we haven’t seen a decent paycheque in over a month, and we were already falling behind before that. The bills are piling up. The cupboards are getting bare. Combine all of this with my post-partum depression, and the inevitable depression surrounding the upcoming two year anniversary of my infant son’s death, the one year anniversary of the loss of my home, and the stress of having two beautiful children, aged 7 and 3, awaiting the arrival of Santa, with the knowledge that Santa will definitely not be coming this year, in fact, you’re not even sure how you’re going to feed them.
Doesn’t sound like the makings of a Christmas to remember with fondness, does it? Well, you’d be wrong. It was quite possibly the best Christmas we ever had, and one my family and I will remember all of our lives.
The nursing and support staff in the hospital was tremendous. They worked around my husband’s erratic work schedule, never complaining about our strange visiting hours. Although because of my illness and anemia I was having terrible problems expressing breast milk, never once did they make me feel badly about my output. When I was unable to stay for long periods to visit the baby they arranged for a room for me to rest in so I wouldn’t have to go back and forth from my home to the hospital. They arranged for help in my home to care for my young children, and to help with the housework that I wasn’t able to do.
The standard procedure in the hospital was to have a Social Worker involved with the families of preemie babies, and they went above and beyond what anyone should ever be expected to do. When it was discovered that we were facing a Christmas without presents, and the prospect of a visit to the foodbank, they immediately informed us that they would be delivering a small Christmas hamper to us, as well as notifying Social Services that we needed some help this Christmas. This was a very difficult pill for me to swallow. I am usually the one giving to the foodbanks at Christmas, I am the one delivering toys to various charities for distribution in the Christmas season. But I could not see us making it through this very difficult time without help, and I told myself that because I had made contributions to these very same charities for many years, that now, in my time of need, it was okay to accept their help.
Well, the day came for the Social Services hamper to be delivered. We received a turkey and a small box of food, and some wrapped presents for the children. (I knew they were mittens and scarves, and I was thankful for that! How can children lose so many mitts every year?) There was also a small envelope in the box. I opened it up and to my complete and utter joy it contained tickets for the family to visit the Children’s Museum, and a $25.00 gift certificate from a local grocery store! I was overjoyed! I fell to my knees and I sobbed. When I had gotten up that morning I hadn’t had enough money to buy a quart of milk, and here was my salvation!My three year old daughter was so very worried when she saw me crying, and I explained to her that I was crying for happy, that I was crying because we had so many angels among us.
But the angel’s work wasn’t done yet. Two days later we received the “small” hamper from the nurses and social workers at the hospital. A courier arrived at my door with a small box, and I thanked him profusely, at which point he asked “where would you like the rest?” To my complete astonishment he proceeded to get a dolly out of the back of his truck, and two trips and seven, yes, I said seven!, boxes later he was done delivering my “small” Christmas hamper! There were boxes of clothes, and food, and gifts. There were boxes of Christmas decorations, and Christmas candy. There was everything imaginable to make a happy, wonderful, joyous Christmas in those boxes. But they could have been empty boxes, because my Christmas had already been made the best I could have ever imagined, because people were showing how much they cared. They had opened their hearts to us, and my heart was filled with love for them.
There’s an Alabama song (a country group), the chorus of which goes something like this….
I believe there are angels among us
Sent down to us, from somewhere up above.
They come to you and me, in our darkest hours,
To show us how to live, teach us how to give,
And guide us with their light of love.
All the people who donated to the hampers we received, and to all the other hampers and charities, I consider to be angels among us. Their help got us through one of the darkest periods of our lives, and we will never be able to thank them enough.
Since that Christmas I have been able to resume my practice of putting groceries in the foodbank donation box at my local grocery store. I have again started donating toys to the various organizations that distribute them at Christmas time. My children are going through their toys again to give some to kids who may not get anything this year. They have experienced the joy of receiving, and they are now happy to give to others who may be in the same situation we once were in. Truly, a valuable lesson was learned that very special Christmas.
My children have never been terribly materialistic, sure they have their moments, but they’re very good at sharing with others, and have always had tremendous empathy for others who do not have as much as we do. This Christmas gave them the opportunity to truly understand how much your caring and support can mean to someone in need. They experienced first hand what it is like to be in a difficult situation, and the wonderful feeling that comes from knowing that someone cared enough to make a difference in their lives. They didn’t mind that the toys were used, or the clothes second hand, and although some of the gifts weren’t quite suitable for them, they decided to give them to a charity that distributed them to other children in need of presents.
I urge everyone reading this to please give to those families that are having a difficult time providing for their families. I choose to help year round, but Christmas can be such a very stressful time for these families. Please give, even if it’s only a dollar to a charity, or a used toy. It means so much to so many people, and it will make you an angel in someone’s eyes.
Please be an “Angel Among Us”.
Note: I would like to thank Pambo for allowing me to participate in this write-off (my first!). Please take a moment to read the submissions by the other participants in this write-off. I am sure you will enjoy them as much as I have!
pambo, MsArriana, lonelyladyk, noniabidnis, shelxland, flyingdutchman, starrinite, alwaysstubborn, Debn, ladywa, bceaglesfan, sherrylee, bgoodday
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Member: Beverley
Location: Canada
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So good to be home, but so very tired!
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