Remembering Our Blessings

I've been honest about how I'm struggling to find my festive spirit this year. It's difficult to acknowledge the magic of Christmas when my heart feels like it's been ripped out and trampled on by a throng of sale-happy shoppers.

It is hard to remember to be merry and it is even harder to remember to be thankful for all that I have. After all, I lost perhaps the biggest part of my soul just over a year ago.

But then something comes along and makes a person appreciate all that they have. And I have a lot. I have my health; a wonderful, albeit sometimes dense, and all too often absent husband; two beautiful, healthy children; and my own personal angel waiting for me at the pearly gates. Oh, and let's not forget Nixon, the World's Greatest Dog. Ever.

Not every one has this much.

I am thankful. I am blessed.

So if you have a few extra bucks hanging around, (and let's face it, it's Christmas, we're all rich, what with all the money trees we grow in our back yards) I ask you to go visit a friend and help children who are suffering. Bid at this auction, buy some tickets to help support a worthy cause. Because not every person is born healthy. And not every parent gets to watch their children grow up.

I know.

And then go see another good friend of mine. Whose little boy is also very sick. And the family is struggling to make basic ends meet. Go, buy some of his art. Support his cause and help a family who has walked the path that I, and so many others have walked.

Because sometimes that path is a lonely, desolate road, with the only end in sight the end no one wants for their child.