To Give is to Receive

Ahhhhhh, Christmas..

I cannot believe it has been one whole year since the last holiday season.  It seems like just yesterday that we plowed through the crazy, albeit merry, month that is December. 

This month, every year, you can find me at the mall, searching for the latest and greatest [insert object] for my little ones, along with countless other parents and aunts and uncles and grandparents.  Or in dainty locally owned boutiques, mulling over sparkly, delicate, handmade trinkets for my friends.  Or in Best Buy trying to convince myself (or, rather, trying to convince my husband) that we don’t need a new flat-screen television (For the record, I lost that battle!). Or in a coffee shop, picking up gift cards for people who matter but who I’m not close enough with to know what else they might appreciate. 

But this year is different.  Somehow, spending money on mere things doesn’t feel as good.  Indulging in the yearly luxury is fun, but the contentedness ceases to persist.  I often think about the little baby girl in the orphanage in Rio and I wonder how she is doing.  I wonder if she is getting spoiled this Christmas.  And, mostly, I wish I could be the one spoiling her. 

Not just her, but the rest of the babies and small children there.  They all deserve something special. My heart fractures a little more every time I think about them on Christmas morning, unspoiled and parentless.

Yet, simultaneously, I am filled with so much happiness as I survey my own children overflowing with delight. 

My perspective has changed, and I wonder what I can do to help.  And, more importantly, I wonder how I can help my own kids to have compassion for those less fortunate and develop a healthy desire to give instead of get. 

So, for the rest of December, I am going to carry on as usual, because it’s important to me to provide my family with comfortable traditions and special memories; these are the things that keep a family strong.  But I will also look for every opportunity to serve others who don’t have as much as I do, but deserve even more.  I will commit to teaching my kids the infinite pleasure that comes along with giving.  And I will reach beyond the security of my own little world and be aware of the needs of the people around me, be it down the block or in another country entirely. 

And I hope to inspire you all to do the same.  I mean, look at these faces......

We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give. 

- Winston Churchill

*Top photo taken by Jarrod Renaud

The Best "Overheard" Ever.

This is what I have to deal with people.  I have had a lot of these over the years, but this is BY FAR the best. This dialogue was taken today from an actual dictation from an actual dictator in the middle of a job.  Excuse the language.  :) 

“Objective Findings:  Neurovascular status intact bilaterally.”

*Phone rings*

“Hello? Heeyy baby, how you doin..? Oh that’s good, your tummy’s fine..great..so, how was your evening?.....Reeeally? Oh that’s nice.....No, I left about 7:45.  It was just me and the tumbleweeds, man, there was like nobody on the road.  I think people stayin away....What?...Oh, they closed it down? I don’t even know what they did. So it worked out fine.......I had some dinner, I watched some sports, I d**ked around on the computer, and that’s it.....yeeeahhh........I owe you a dollar.....laughs*...I’m givin you the dollar baby.  That’s what I do, man.  That way, you know, I don’t have any debts baby.  Gotta eliminate the debts. I wanna live DEBT FREE!  Like, who’s that guy on the radio..he’s also on the TV, he does a talk show about being debt free.  I’m not talking like....... [insert name] does that s**t though....what’s her deal, huh? Yeaahhh.. So, uumm, yeah...........just doin some work here. Did you hear the guy talking about the alternative medicine treatment?.....Was it interesting?.....I don’t know who these people are or where they find them, they’re kooky. You know what I mean.....I think I saw Fidel Castro when I was driving home.  I didn’t know they invited Caribbean communists here. I’m all up in my Nikes, man........So I’m gunna look for a brown belt on Friday.........I sent you emails........you just too good to hang out with me at your big event, trying to move up the corporate ladder *laughs*.  What’s the name of that sheister attorney? I really wanna know who this f***in punk is, [insert name].  *Looking up online*.....Yeah, we gotta get somethin else to put in that freakin omelet.......*reading bio*.......you take those little sausages and put that in there....*reading bio* ....yeah I’m looking forward to it...............So, ahh, what did you have for dinner?.....You soak your chicken thighs in soy sauce overnight? Is that how you make that stuff?........Attorney profile, let’s see if we got this... (in deep sarcastic voice) The law offices of [insert name].  Let’s see what we got.  It looks like he’s from Chicago....What a f***in sheister man......yeeahh, you see that thing, he’s got the tan goin, he got the chains, the open shirt.....What the f***, they ran him out of Chicago? F***in, he probably spent 3 years in prison for f***in milking clients out of their money and overcharging and s**t like in the movie The Firm...remember that?.......Huh? You never saw the movie The Firm?......You ever read the book?......The first 50 pages are outstanding.  It’s like one of those you can’t put down, even I said that..............so what’s shakin baby? You be hanging your American flag on Veteran’s Day man? Why don’t you come up and shake my hand and thank me for being a Veteran of the United States *laughs*............You not gunna do that? How you gonna be like that? It’s like, way to be an American...............huh baby...........mmmhhmmmm......yes, I had a lot of free time last night....yeeahhh it was good...........................................Oh....did this hang up on me? I think I f***ed up the dictation.”

*Hangs up.*

Ya think?!?

**No names, no locations, and no patient or confidential information are contained in this document.