Three freakin' days till Christmas. Holy shit! Another holiday without my boyfriend........an that stinks........maybe next year.....
I've been so crazy busy at work the past two days with Christmas stuff. I work with kids who have cancer. Can you believe there are almost 350 kids in treatment right now here in Albuquerque??? We had 55 of our children and their families who are struggling financially, "adopted" out for Christmas. Local businesses and organizations adopted our kids and their families and bought their entire Christmas wish lists for all of them. I've spent the past two days giving our kids their boxes and bags full of presents. I've played Santa and it's such an amazing feeling. My favorite little girl, who's 3, came running to me yesterday when she saw me and jumped in my arms and told me she wanted her Mom to take our picture. All the while shes touching my face and playing with my hair, admiring that it's "pink" like her dolls hair. This little curly haired girl that was so full of life looked so different from when I met her a year ago.
When I first met this little girl she was two, had just been diagnosed with cancer and had a large tumor in her brain. She had just had it removed and she had a huge scar over her little bald head. She was bald from all the chemo treatments she'd been receiving. Swollen from her surgery, and really the only thing that told you she was a girl was her little pink outfit and her shoes. It took all I had not to burst into tears when I first saw her. But, she took to me right away, talking and talking and asking me a million questions, and she wanted me to hold her. She left such a lasting impression on me, and imagine how happy I was to see her yesterday with a full head of hair and doing so well!
Today she came back to my job, with a card in her little hand. Inside this card her mother wrote me a really sweet note, and had traced Angel's (my little friend) hand onto the card. Angel colored her hand print for me with crayons. Oh my gosh, I melted. Mom put some pictures of Angel in my xmas card. I can't wait to put them into a frame and put them on my desk. Sometimes you can't deny a different kind of connection with some of our kids at work. Some of them just attach themselves and take residence in your heart. I was so happy to see Angel and know that we helped her and her brothers and sister and Mom and Dad have a wonderful Christmas.
It's funny because when you are around this stuff, it really humbles you. It makes you realize that your life is pretty fucking great compared to these little souls. These past two days have made me feel really proud and really thankful.
I hope that sharing my little Angel story will let you feel thankful when you may of otherwise been feeling pretty down on yourself or your life. The holidays are not about getting the best presents, or spending all your money, or piling loads of stuff under the tree. They really are a time for just stopping, and contemplating what you have in your life that many other people do not have in their lives.
I've been so crazy busy at work the past two days with Christmas stuff. I work with kids who have cancer. Can you believe there are almost 350 kids in treatment right now here in Albuquerque??? We had 55 of our children and their families who are struggling financially, "adopted" out for Christmas. Local businesses and organizations adopted our kids and their families and bought their entire Christmas wish lists for all of them. I've spent the past two days giving our kids their boxes and bags full of presents. I've played Santa and it's such an amazing feeling. My favorite little girl, who's 3, came running to me yesterday when she saw me and jumped in my arms and told me she wanted her Mom to take our picture. All the while shes touching my face and playing with my hair, admiring that it's "pink" like her dolls hair. This little curly haired girl that was so full of life looked so different from when I met her a year ago.
When I first met this little girl she was two, had just been diagnosed with cancer and had a large tumor in her brain. She had just had it removed and she had a huge scar over her little bald head. She was bald from all the chemo treatments she'd been receiving. Swollen from her surgery, and really the only thing that told you she was a girl was her little pink outfit and her shoes. It took all I had not to burst into tears when I first saw her. But, she took to me right away, talking and talking and asking me a million questions, and she wanted me to hold her. She left such a lasting impression on me, and imagine how happy I was to see her yesterday with a full head of hair and doing so well!
Today she came back to my job, with a card in her little hand. Inside this card her mother wrote me a really sweet note, and had traced Angel's (my little friend) hand onto the card. Angel colored her hand print for me with crayons. Oh my gosh, I melted. Mom put some pictures of Angel in my xmas card. I can't wait to put them into a frame and put them on my desk. Sometimes you can't deny a different kind of connection with some of our kids at work. Some of them just attach themselves and take residence in your heart. I was so happy to see Angel and know that we helped her and her brothers and sister and Mom and Dad have a wonderful Christmas.
It's funny because when you are around this stuff, it really humbles you. It makes you realize that your life is pretty fucking great compared to these little souls. These past two days have made me feel really proud and really thankful.
I hope that sharing my little Angel story will let you feel thankful when you may of otherwise been feeling pretty down on yourself or your life. The holidays are not about getting the best presents, or spending all your money, or piling loads of stuff under the tree. They really are a time for just stopping, and contemplating what you have in your life that many other people do not have in their lives.
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have a merry christmas...i know first hand that it sucks not spending it with the one you love