I think I've blogged before about my toxic mother. You remember her...the one that refused to spend $8 on a bra for me and I was pointed at and laughed at during gym. The one that thought cigarettes were a better investment then school supplies. Lets face it, I could go on forever. But there IS a point. Keep reading.....
I never got christmas gifts. Sometimes a kind neighbor would bring us a tree, but that was about it. When I was about 8 and my sister was 1 she started going to various charities that put our names on those christmas trees you see everywhere. When I was 8 I got a pair of socks. When I was 9, 10, 11, 12 I recieved nothing. I guess my tag was never pulled off the tree. I remember how I cried those years. Lets not even talk about what it was like going back to school and hearing everyone talk about their holidays. My sister, being the youngest always seemed to get stuff. Every year I would tell myself not to get my hopes up, but when I would watch her open her gifts and I had nothing it made me sob. Even to this day it makes me sad. Now when I was thirteen pogoballs were all the rage. I wanted one so bad. On christmas day the lady came to our house and brought a food box. Then she went out to her trunk and brought in 4 gifts. Imagine my suprise when one was for me. The next morning I was so happy and excited just to have something and I almost died when I opened it and it was a pogoball! It was yellow and black and oh so beautiful. Then I cried. Not tears of pain, but tears of happiness because I knew that someone CARED.
The point to all of this? I know we are all facing tighter finances this year....but if you can, please pull a kids tag off of a tree. It makes more of a difference than you will ever know. It may just make someone believe they are loved.
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I am so sorry for all of that pain you had to deal with surrounding the holidays. What a great message you have to share, and one that I will definitely take note of.
Happy holidays to you...
I hope that you have made all of your adult Christmas memories special ones. We have tags where I work and I make sure that every one is taken. Even if that means hunting people down!! :)
bless you this season
Terrific reminder that we should focus on making someone else's holiday just as special as we try to make our own. I'm so glad you got your pogoball!
one of the highlights of our Christmas season is getting the names of a couple of kids to shop for. We take the kids with us to help - they get to pick it all out... it's a great lesson, and we all know in our hearts that it makes a huge difference. Thanks for this great post and reminder!
Little girl Greisy is getting a cabbage patch kid this year ... as my family giving tree gift. I've always done them ... but I had NO IDEA what they meant for children ...thank you for sharing.
I admire you for sharing your story in hope to help children have a better Christmas.
I will definitely be pulling a tag off the tree this year.
Merry Christmas!
p.s. I had a pogo ball as well....I LOVED that thing!! Reading your story about you receiving yours brought back special memories for me.
You have turned lemons into lemonade. You could have become bitter and hostile and instead you are reminding us of one of the reasons for this season.
Blessings to you and your family!
Thank you for sharing you childhood memories. It serves as a good reminder of everything we should be thankful for this time of year and how we can make it special for others.
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