"Tis the season to be Jolly"....

To stay with the theme I started a few weeks ago, I'll continue to write about a gift we can give to each other this Holiday Season. It didn't take me long to realize the gift I should write about this week. Thursday evening while I was in San Diego at a conference, I looked at my cell phone and I had 4 messages. "this can't be good" I thought to myself. My family knew I was in class all day, so unless it was an emergency, they most likely would not have left a message. So I quickly call home "I just called an ambulance for your mom, she passed out downstairs"...my husband calmly tells me....My heart nearly stopped. Having just lost my dad, I honestly think to myself, I'm soooo not ready to lose my mom. I quickly call the airport and I fly home. As I get to the hospital at 1:15 am, I'm happy to see my mom asleep and resting. As the following days unfold, i find that she has had a stroke. The weekend is a blur, driving back and forth to the hospital, trying to keep a "normal" family routine, and trying not totally feel overwhelmed by everything in life right now, I found myself crying more than enjoying the holiday spirit. I look around our house, "we are so not ready for Christmas" my heart doesn't feel the joy it usually does this time of year! I"m usually Ms Christmas, this year I"m not feeling very Jolly. By Monday morning the stress is palpable in our home. I drive my daughter to school shares her insight "Mom I hope granny doesn't die in the bathroom, like she did for dad last week." She watched the entire ambulance moment, and is very clear that Granny died but came alive, and she is sure this will happen again. I can only imagine the stories shared in the first grade class this week! I pick up my daily coffee and I notice the cashier has a great sparkle in her eyes, which I was so grateful to see. Her face seemed to brighten my day. As I walk back into our home. i calmly say to my husband, we have two choices we can be crabby about everything that has happened in the past few weeks, or try to be happy and deal with whatever comes our way. I recommend we should take the happy/jolly route.
Tuesday I meet a friend at the same coffeeshop, the bungalow. I see the same happy woman, this time I ask her if she owns the coffeeshop. "yes i do" she replies. WE continue to chat, "You look like you love your job" I say to her, "I do, I was a nurse, and I have always wanted to start my own business, so my mom, sister and I opened The Bungalow in April. Even though it's hard work, I love it." As she walked away, I could just tell the joy she has in her work. I glanced around her shop and saw these beautiful words printed on the walls "Follow your Bliss" "Dream Big" "Live your best life" "Live Laugh Love"....great sayings to surround me, given my current life situation. As I drove home, I thought about the people I had seen today. Who seems to be filled with the holly jolly spirit? I quickly remember, As I dropped my daughter off at school Mrs. Prenger the principal was assisting children across the streets. " Come on buddy, let's go inside" she cheerfully said to a young student. The happiness is her voice was clear, you would have never guessed she had been standing in the 9 degree weather. She defines to be "follow your Bliss'....Then there was "Coach Klatt" he was out shoveling the sidewalk, he had a great big grin on his face, had time to say good morning to my daughter. He definitely sounded jolly, go figure how he can be happy shoveling is this frigid weather! I then talked with my friend Diane, who reminded me of all the people who are less fortunate than all of us. Families struggling to find food, warm clothing and heat this Holiday season. Although at times life can feel heavy, when you think of everyone else who is struggling just to keep going, it puts my life into perspective. So this week let's try to share the "holly jolly" spirit of the Christmas season. A cheerful greeting, a smile instead of a frown, holding doors open instead of rushing in front of others, little gestures that can add a bit of jolly to any of our days! Thanks to my friend Rick, this email story made me smile, enjoy! Margo