the gift

Christmas was a holiday I never looked forward to until this past year.  The rushing around, always stressing over finding the perfect gift.  To me, surprising someone with that perfect present made my holiday.  Especially my girls.  But this year, I learned a lot about the gift part.  A family I know and love suddenly lost a father, husband and friend.  I spend more time reading Caring Bridge posts of families I know with sick children and spouses and I think to myself, why am I so blessed?  And then I finally took that second look at the friends who never give up on me, the husband who sees past all my faults and the beautiful girls I helped raise who give me hope every day that the world will be better because of them.  I give and receive gifts every day.  I woke up today in a warm home, with a loving family, a good job and more food than I could need.  I welcomed phone calls from friends far away and visits with friends just down the block.  Yes, I'm blessed and I don't know why.  But I know one thing, this year, I didn't stress about the gift.