Once upon a time, I had quite a sunny disposition. That was long ago. As I stand at the brink of 61, I must confess that I am not a cup-half-full kind of person. I'm not even a cup-half-empty kind of person any more. These days I'm more of a someone-took-my-cup-then-threw-it-on-the-floor-and-all-three-dang-drops-of-water-I-had-left-got-spilled-on-the-floor-and-are-gone-forever kind of person. Or as Neak said tonight, when she, Neaksis, and I were chatting while kids messed with their presents, "Maybe you could call yourself, 'I've-heard-that-some-people-have-cups.'" Nicky-picky. :RollieEyes:

What can I say? In the last 7 years, my mother has died and my dad has gone slowly but steadily downhill; we found out that all 6 the children had been molested (the adopted ones by their mama's BF while their dad was in prison; the bios by the adopted ones); we have hellaciously suffered the painful throes of some sort of PTSD with 5 of the kids, as well as varying degrees of attachment disorder, with its accompanying "misbehaviors"--an inadequate description if I ever heard one; Neak and AJ (and the family) weathered the traumatic circumstances that introduced us to MB in the first place; I spent years working 72 hrs./wk. until my foot gave out; the surgery to fix it was unsuccessful and I ended up on permanent disability; this adds skyrocketing financial worries to everything else. There may be more, but I hope you can see how anyone's optimism might begin to FRAY!

Hence, the Grinch...and Neaksis' unrelenting holiday cheer has been grating in the extreme. ( to Neaksis--she does it on purpose!) So I was unprepared for the gift that I received from the oldest of the children, now almost 15, and home on leave from a residential treatment program where he was placed in June of '07, when his anger and violence made him a danger to have in the home. He'd been my buddy ever since he was little--long before he was permanently removed from his bio-parents--and his rage and estrangement was difficult to bear.

Yesterday when he came home, he announced that he had Christmas presents for everyone that he had bought at an auction. This was puzzling, since the Patch residents are not allowed to have any cash. How did they do it? I'm glad you asked. It turns out they bid pushups...and tonight I am the owner of a lovely, warm quilt that cost him 1,000 pushups to obtain. Completely aside from the wonderful changes that counselors and staff have helped him make (and for which we are very grateful), I am overwhelmed with the very literal, personal cost of my gift, and the price he was willing to pay. In a season that has become sterilized of so much of its true meaning, commercialized to infinity and beyond, I have a gift that my grandson paid for, in every sense, with himself. I am truly touched and humbled to have been given, not just a warm blanket, but a thousand pushups' worth of love.

We are poor this Christmas, but that was a very rich gift to me.

tl

WOW!!!!

I concur with Cinderrella.

WOW, that is amazing.
You are such a lucky lady to have that.
And see it

He "paid" the whole price in a single day, too. :MrEEk: As well as 500 pushups for AJ's gift. I told him it's a good thing he's learning to obey, because he's gonna have the strongest arms in the family by the time he comes home for good!

tl

Though not perfect, he's unrecognizable as the boy who left.

Wow. What an awesome gift.

And by that I mean the change in him as well.

What a beautiful image. Thanks for sharing it with us.


:MerryChristmas:

That, IMHO, is a *real* gift. Enjoy!

Thank you for reminding me that miracles do happen. I have an addicted daughter, and keep praying for the same to happen to her.

That is just a most wonderful gift.


T&L you need to fill the cup up half way and think about is it half empty .... or half full????



It might actually be on the way to being half full you know


hugs my love


I have to go iron some shirts for tomorrow.... and Mikeys up playing with everyone ..... I'm just lucky I suppose :RollieEyes:

What a wonderful gift. Merry Christmas, my good friend.

(((TL)))) Your cup is MORE than 1/2 full my friend. What a wonderful gift!

{{{{{{{TL}}}}}}

What a beautiful gift...the quilt is the outward expression of the inward change.

What an awesome and miraculous gift you have received...in both the quilt and the young man that your dear grandson is becoming!

As you know, due to our financial situation, I made just about all our gifts this year...and I thoroughly enjoyed myself while doing it. I made those gifts with LOVE, and I do believe that my children and grandchildren appreciate them.

Your grandson gave the the gift of tremendous LOVE, and it's obvious that he thinks you are WORTH 1,000 pushups!

THAT is the TRUE gift in your quilt! I know that you recognize that, and will feel the love everytime you wrap that quilt around you.

Speaking of handmade, which as you can see described our Christmas as well.....

Neaksis' DD13 was pinching and squeezing her present this morning, and exclaimed, "This one feels like it's STORE-BOUGHT!"

It was.




Underwear.

You. Are. SO. Mean.

tl

P.S. Did she really? Oh, hi, everyone. Heh-heh. Shame, shame, shame on you for laughing, Neak!! I am shocked.

Still Neak, too lazy to stagger to her own computer after posting photos on the other thread...


We have not yet sunk to making our own homemade underwear, at least not on a regular basis. I'm confident if we ever had to, we would turn out a product that was not only attractive, but comfortable, too.

Still about the store-bought present.

I think the giving of home made presents is great .. used to do that as kids and also when my kids were small. JJ made his dad a cigarette tray out of glued seashells once ... too bad I nagged ,,oops I mean I gently persuaded ... Aussie to give those up that year.

working on the cigars now

These days we don't buy presents for adults ... not usually. I got very spoiled this year and feel so sort of guilty.

And we had to buy Liz the guitar.... especially after what she did with the old one live on stage :RollieEyes:

and I love the photos too


Grabbing a bottle of bubbly with the girls ... mums arrived as well .. and heading for the spa and some girl talk to catch up with their plans for the next few weeks

The Cricket Widows Club

I have made pjs.....and I did make The Diplomat a pair of silk boxers. Oh, dear!!!! TMI!

FYI
My oldest (now 22)
is a graduate from such a program (Utah)

all I can say is .... It saved him - and THANK GOD for Mormans!