Friday, December 22, 2023

Friday, December 22, 2023

Tonight's picture was taken in December of 2002. Mattie was 8 months old and he desperately wanted to learn to walk. In fact Mattie never crawled. But if I held his hands, he would naturally take steps and truly wanted to walk and run. However, Mattie did things at his own pace and I learned to follow his lead rather than freak out about benchmarks in parenting books. 

Quote of the day: Today me will live in the moment, unless it's unpleasant. In which case me will eat a cookie. ~ The Cookie Monster

All I can say is I have the best friends. This morning, after dropping my dad off at the memory care center and going grocery shopping, I came home to a doorstep filled with gifts. I call my friend, Carolyn, Santa Claus. She thought of me, my parents, Sunny, and Indie. This season I have hit an all time low, and yet I have friends reminding me that I am important and special in their lives. I can't tell you how meaningful these connections are to me in general, but now I need support more than ever. 

This afternoon, I checked the doorstep and saw this Spoonful of Comfort box. This gift was sent to me by my friend Margy's sister. Margy died from ovarian cancer in 2021 and Mattie Miracle works hard at keeping her legacy alive through our M&M (Margy and Mattie) Wishes program. This Christmas each of Margy's sisters sent me a gift. This loving gift is from her sister, Nancy. Her other two sisters gave me the beautiful rosemary plant above. It is my Christmas tree this year. 

Inside this lovely box, was all sorts of gifts and goodies! However, what is equally noteworthy is how beautifully everything is displayed!

All of the boxes inside the bigger box. 

Each box has a cute or meaningful quote. This one says, One of the secrets of a happy life is continuous small treats.

I used this cookie monster quote to start off tonight's blog. There is something to be said of the therapeutic value of a cookie. 

This quotes says, We can not all do great things, but we can do small things with great love. 

Our friend, Marie, in California sent us these homemade gingerbread cookies. Marie knows how much I love gingerbread, and literally every year, she mails us a box! A holiday highlight. 

My friend Ann and her family came over to visit us this evening. She had a cookie exchange at her house, so she brought me a whole bunch of wonderful cookies. For the most part I prefer to be isolated and alone now, but this evening's visit was a good distraction. There was conversation about all sorts of topics and for a while, it helped me forget about my enormous problems.