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[lia091]

This is so long but today brought a lot into perspective for me.

My heart is touched beyond belief.

To most this picture says nothing more than “the top of a tree! “🤨

Why do I have a picture of the top of a tree?

To me, it tells a whole story that I don’t think I’ll ever forget.

It reminded me of the importance of family (no matter how busy you believe your life to be) and it was both a lesson and a reminder of what Christmas is undoubtedly all about.

This last year has really weighed a lot of us down.

I’ve found myself complaining about things like...wearing a mask,having nowhere to go, having nowhere to send my kids,not ever having a moment of silence away from them.

This Christmas I stressed out over making sure my kids had the perfect gifts, i was hard on myself all the way down to how well I wrapped the presents...the same presents they were literally just going to tear open without even a thought of how nice the presentation was.

I called my grandma like I do most days. If I’m being honest though...as much as I try to call her every other day,I sometimes get to caught up in my own stuff to bother calling anyone. I was exhausted,in pain,tired of the mess,sick of the kids making noise and just wishing I could be left alone if only for a minute.

I didn’t say any of this, instead I asked her how her day was, and I could hear her voice crack.

(She’s pretty damn ill and in a lot of pain every second of every day.) if she were to catch any virus including covid she probably wouldn’t survive it.

Because of this...she’s been closed up in her apartment with no more than the phone calls we give her.

But she’s had no other human interaction,no physical affection like a hug from a loved one or a hand to hold when she’s feeling scared and alone.

She told me she was tired of being closed up everyday, she wanted real human interaction...more than just through a phone,she felt stuck in her apartment and her own thoughts (which I can’t imagine would be the funnest to endure with everything she is going through)

She’s a very independent woman who has raised 5 children all by herself. She never asks for much, if at all .

She began explaining that she didn’t even have a tree this year and that she had asked a couple of people if they could just bring her a branch off a pine tree, so she could “smell Christmas like old times”

Here I was complaining that my kids were making too much noise.

Obsessing over rather or not I made today perfect for them.

When there is so many people just like her right now that would love just a fraction of the noise we all get to have.

A branch,all she wanted for Christmas....if it meant not having her family was the smell of Christmas.

I brought her “the smell of Christmas,”

With an air hug from afar.

Something so little...but it impacted her more then I would have expected.

But She has brought me so much more.

A best friend,my other half and often times my rock. I've never related to anyone as much as I do her, and she’s a constant reminder that I can get myself through anything.

Most Importantly, today she taught me something I can’t even put into words.

Something I’ll carry with me for the rest of my life.

All I gave her in return was a branch.

But it made her entire year.

I think this is something huge we can all take as we exit the year.